Introduction

Oil prices continued their rise today, Monday, and reached their highest level since mid-April after Saudi Arabia and Russia, the two largest oil producers, pledged to continue cutting supplies for another month in order to balance global markets and maintain prices.

Rise in Oil Prices

By 0023 GMT, Brent futures rose 25 cents, or 0.3%, to $86.49 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 23 cents, or 0.3%, to $83.05 dollars per barrel.

Longest Period of Gains

Last week, the two benchmarks recorded gains for the sixth consecutive week, the longest period of gains since December 2021 and January 2022.

Factors Supporting Prices

Prices have been supported by several factors over the past few weeks, including expectations of a slowdown in U.S. interest rate hikes, OPEC+ supply cuts, and hopes of stimulating a recovery in oil demand in China for the second quarter.

Extended Supply Cuts

On Thursday, Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, extended its voluntary cut of one million barrels a day until the end of September and indicated it could extend it again or increase the amount of the cut. The kingdom’s production in September will be about 9 million barrels per day.

Russian Export Cuts

Russia also said on Thursday it would cut oil exports by 300,000 bpd in September.