Oil Ups after Saudi Output Cut Announced

Oil prices moved up US$1 a barrel on Monday after top global exporter Saudi Arabia pledged to cut production by another 1 million barrels per day from July, counteracting the macroeconomic headwinds that have depressed markets. Brent crude futures were at US$77.15 a barrel, up US$1.02, or 1.3%, at 0645 GMT after earlier hitting a session-high of US$78.73 a barrel, Reuters said. US West Texas Intermediate crude climbed US$1.02, or 1.4%, to US$72.76 a barrel, after touching an intraday high of US$75.06 a barrel.

The contracts extended gains of more than 2% on Friday after the Saudi energy ministry said the kingdom's output would drop to 9 million barrels per day (bpd) in July from around 10 million bpd in May. The cut is Saudi Arabia's biggest in years. The voluntary cut pledged by Saudi on Sunday is on top of a broader deal by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies including Russia to limit supply into 2024 as the group seeks to boost flagging oil prices. The group, known as OPEC+, pumps around 40% of the world's crude and has in place cuts of 3.66 million bpd, amounting to 3.6% of global demand.