Oil up on Saudi export cut

LONDON, July 25, 2017 – Oil prices climbed to nearly two-month highs on Tuesday following a pledge by Saudi Arabia a day earlier to limit its exports to 6.6 million bopd throughout August.

Brent crude futures for September delivery were up 2%, at USD 49.56 per barrel at 3:07 pm in London.

OPEC’s leading producer said that it would lower its August crude exports by almost 1 million bopd year-on-year at a Joint OPEC-Non-OPEC Ministerial Monitoring Committee meeting on Monday, where delegates renewed their commitment to the global production cut agreement, which was extended by a further nine months in May.

In recent weeks, output cuts by OPEC members have been partly offset by an increase in production in countries including the USA.

The Saudi strategy to curtail its production in August follows cuts to its US exports throughout July. According to figures from the US Energy Information Administration, US crude imports from Saudi Arabia dropped from 851,000 bopd in the first week of July to 524,000 bopd in the second week, the lowest weekly level in more than seven years.

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