(New York) Oil prices rose slightly on Monday, after Saudi Arabia and Russia reaffirmed their cuts in crude production and exports until the end of the year.
A barrel of Brent from the North Sea for delivery in January gained 0.34% to $85.18.
Its American equivalent, a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in December, gained 0.38% to $80.82.
The prices of black gold were also favored by the decline of the dollar while oil is exchanged in dollars and a drop in the greenback makes the barrel cheaper.
Saudi Arabia and Russia reaffirmed over the weekend that they would keep their production and export cuts within planned volumes until the end of the year.
Russia will continue an already announced voluntary reduction “of 300,000 barrels per day in the supply of oil and petroleum products on world markets until the end of December 2023,” the vice-president said in a statement on Sunday. Russian Prime Minister Alexander Novak.
Saudi Arabia, for its part, confirmed in a separate statement its production cut of one million barrels per day until the end of the year, the official Saudi press agency SPA said on Sunday.
“The statements from both countries indicate that the reductions will be reviewed next month to decide whether to extend them, intensify them or eliminate them depending on market conditions,” specifies Giovanni Staunovo, analyst at UBS.
“This monthly review process allows Saudi Arabia to maintain control of the oil market, adjusting its production based on market fundamentals,” he explains.
These decisions complement the reductions introduced since the beginning of May and in force until the end of 2024 by nine countries, including Riyadh, Moscow, Baghdad and Dubai, for a total of 1.6 million barrels daily.
“We believe these voluntary supply reductions will likely be extended into the first quarter of 2024, given seasonal weakness in oil demand at the start of each year, ongoing concerns about economic growth,” but also the objective of the members of OPEC+ (the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies) to maintain a certain price per barrel, continues Mr. Staunovo.