OPEC agrees to cut production by 750,000 barrels a day

The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has agreed to cut production by 750,000 barrels a day, citing a delegation member. The surprise news triggered an immediate spike of more than 5 per cent in crude prices, as markets had expected the Algiers meeting to end without agreement.

In London benchmark Brent North Sea crude for November delivery rose USD 2.72 to USD 48.69, while in New York a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was up USD 2.38 to USD 47.05.

OPEC members, whose countries produce 40 per cent of the world’s crude oil, agreed to cut their output to 32.5 million barrels per day, Bloomberg said citing a delegation source who requested anonymity.

An informal OPEC meeting opened in Algiers earlier today to discuss a possible freeze in output by the cartel, with the aim of raising prices which have fallen by more than half since mid-2014.