Oil Holds Gains After Opec and Non Opec countries decide to cut production

Oil prices on Thursday held on to gains made after OPEC struck a long-sought agreement to reduce production by 1.2 million barrels a day.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.1% to $51.87 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures exchange, having earlier traded above $52. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate futures were trading down 0.1% at $49.38 a barrel.

The agreement struck by representatives of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries marked the group’s first concerted effort to slash output since 2008 and sent prices surging more than 10% Wednesday.

The cut, representing about 1% of global production, will help to reduce a supply glut that has depressed prices for more than two years. It involves significant reductions by heavyweights including Saudi Arabia, the group’s most powerful member and de facto leader of the cartel.

However, Nigeria and Libya were exempted from the cut, while Indonesia suspended its membership after refusing to agree to the deal.

Qatar’s Minister of Energy and Industry, Dr Mohammed Al-Sada, said this at a news conference at the end of the 171 meeting of the Conference of the OPEC on Wednesday in Vienna.