At 13:35 GMT, Brent crude was trading at $84.72 per barrel, compared to Friday’s settle of $79.89 per barrel, WTI traded $80.29 per barrel, versus Friday’s settle of $75.67 per barrel.  Several members of the OPEC+ producer group announced further production cuts amounting to over 1.15 million bpd from May until the end of 2023, while Russia said it will extend its 500,000 bpd cut until the end of the year.

The flurry of unexpected announcements by individual member states came ahead of yesterday’s official OPEC+ JMMC meeting, during which the group was expected to stick to its current policy.

“A tighter market means that we now expect higher oil prices. Prior to these announced cuts we were forecasting Brent to average $97 per barrel over the second half of the year. However, we now expect the market to average $101 per barrel over this period,” said Warren Patterson, head of ING’s commodity research.
Sunday’s move was led by Saudi Arabia, which announced a cut of 500,000 bpd, while Iraq said it would cut its output by 211,000 bpd, according to official statements.

The Saudi Energy Ministry said in a statement that the voluntary cut was a precautionary measure aimed at supporting oil market price stability.