OPEC agree to reduce crude oil production for the first time in eight years
The agreement was reached in Vienna. The Petroleum Exporting Countries will cut daily oil production of 1.2 million barrels. Even Russia, not in OPEC, will remove 300 thousand barrels from the market. Thefinal agreement possible thanks to the agreement between the Iranians and Saudis.
Vienna (AsiaNews / Agencies) – The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has decided to cut crude oil production to stimulate a rise in prices, which have been in free fall since 2014.
For the first time in eight years, the historic agreement was reached in Vienna, where yesterday representatives of the 14 Member States met (including Indonesia which has decided to leave the group).
Qatar Minister of Energy and Industry and OPEC president, Mohammed Bin Saleh Al-Sada, said that the organization will undertake to reduce the number of barrels produced, for a total of 1.2 million per day .
The agreement comes after two years systematically declining prices. In January of this year the prices had dropped below 30 dollars a barrel, the alarm threshold for investors. The low price of crude oil has caused deep an economic crisis in Russia, Venezuela, Nigeria and even in Saudi Arabia.
After the announcement, the price of Brent (the title used as an indicator for crude oil in the international markets) rose 10% to $ 51.94 per barrel, while the US crude rose 9%, from $ 49.53 per barrel.
The agreement between the OPEC countries was possible thanks to the agreement of the Russians, Saudis and Iranians, who for months have been seeking viable ways to reduce price fluctuations. Saudi Arabia, unwilling to bear the brunt of the reduction, has decided to remove 500 thousand barrels per day from the market, or 4.5% of total production.
Al-Sada said that even the non-OPEC countries have decided to work together, for a total of 600 thousand barrels less a day. Although the list of these countries is not known, the OPEC president said that Russia is preparing for a cut of 300 thousand barrels a day (a total of more than 10 million).
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09/05/2017 09:32
