Oil prices extended gains today, rising to their highest since late February, after Saudi Arabia announced a big voluntary production cut, and as an industry report showed US inventories fell last week.
Brent crude rose 25 cents, or 0.5%, to $53.85 a barrel this afternoon. Earlier in the session, it hit a high of $54.63 a barrel, a level not seen since February 26, 2020.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures were up seven cents, or 0.1%, to $50 a barrel. The contract hit a session high of $50.59 a barrel, its highest since February 25.
Both contracts were up about 5% yesterday.
Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, yesterday announced it would make additional, voluntary oil output cuts of 1 million barrels per day (bpd) in February and March, after a meeting of OPEC+, which groups Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries producers and others, including Russia.
With coronavirus infections spreading rapidly producers are wary of a further hit to demand.
OPEC+ agreed most producers would hold output steady in February and March while allowing Russia and Kazakhstan to raise output by a modest 75,000 bpd in February and a further 75,000 bpd in March.
"Despite this bullish supply agreement, we believe Saudi's decision likely reflects signs of weakening demand as lockdowns return," Goldman Sachs analysts wrote in a note.
However Goldman maintained its end of 2021 forecast for Brent of $65 a barrel.
US crude oil inventories fell by 1.7 million barrels in the week to January 1 to 491.3 million barrels, data from industry group the American Petroleum Institute showed last night.
