Thursday 1 December 2016

OPEC reaches deal to cut oil production

OPEC members have announced an agreement for a production cut which will be effective from January next year.

In a meeting in Vienna, members agreed some of the details of the deal, which sets a production target of 32.5 million barrels per day (mb/d) "to accelerate the ongoing drawdown of the stock overhang and bring the oil market rebalancing forward".

That means each OPEC member could see its production cut by 1.2mb/d.

The price of Brent oil rose above $50/bbl (£40/bbl) following the announcement.

The organisation has decided to establish a High-level Monitoring Committee to monitor the implementation of the agreement.

It will also set a framework for co-operation between OPEC and non-OPEC countries on a regular and sustainable basis, highlighting the importance of other producing states joining the agreement.