By Srinivas Chowdary Sunkara // petrobazaar // 10th Dec, 2018.
Brent advanced $1.61 or 2.68 pct to $61.67 and WTI jumped $1.12 or 2.18 pct to $52.61 a barrel on Friday after OPEC and non-OPEC producers agreed to cut production for 2019 despite pressure from U.S president not to lower the output. Both the crude markers lost around 3 pct on Thursday due to delayed decision on cuts by the cartel. Crude futures closed another week with gains. Baker Hughes reported that U.S drillers took out 10 oil rigs in the week to Dec 7th.
Finally, Saudis tried to walk a tight rope as they wanted to maintain relationship with Americans alongside of making new cuts to ensure higher oil prices to balance their budget. OPEC + decided to cut production by 1.2Mbpd for 2019, which was larger than expected by the market. Russia gave nod for the proposed cuts while Iran agreed to drain the excess output. U.S is not participating in proposed cuts. As per the reports, OPEC group will curb output by 800,000 bpd from January, 2019 and non-OPEC group will contribute another 400,000 bpd. Proposed cuts may not be sufficient to end oil rout, Brent is expected to average at $70 in 2019. Today, Asian markets are opened with positive momentum to continue Friday's gains. Good day.
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