Oil Rises As OPEC Surprises With Bigger Cut (20/10/2006)

Παρ, 20 Οκτωβρίου 2006 - 12:45
Oil prices rose toward $59 a barrel on Friday after OPEC agreed to more output curbs than expected and some members said the cartel could even cut production again before the end of the year, according to Reuters. The market briefly surged above $59, but gains were later checked by nagging concerns that some OPEC members may fail to comply with the curbs. U.S crude rose 28 cents to $58.78 a barrel by 1140 GMT, $1.50 above the 2006 low touched just a week ago. London Brent crude rose 21 cents to $61.08 a barrel. OPEC ministers agreed to reduce output by 1.2 million barrels per day, some 200,000 bpd more than anticipated. The group, which supplies about a third of the world’s crude said in a statement after an emergency meeting in Doha that oversupply had destabilized the oil market. The cut was its deepest since January 2002 and is equal to about 4.3% of September supply. “It was a surprise, It shows the determination of OPEC,” Tetsu Emori chief strategist at Mitsui Bussan Futures Ltd in Tokyo said.