Oil prices climbed by over 2% during the week ending Sept. 8 over supply risks triggered by output curbs announced by the world’s biggest producers, Russia and Saudi Arabia.
International benchmark Brent crude traded at $90.53 per barrel at 2.20 p.m. (1130 GMT) on Friday, increasing by around 2.23% relative to the closing price of $88.55 a barrel on Friday last week.
The American benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) saw gains while trading at $87.38 per barrel at the same time, posting a 2.14% rise from last Friday’s session that closed at $85.55 a barrel.
Both benchmarks hit their highest levels this year after major OPEC+ producers announced their decision to extend oil production cuts and curb exports.
Saudi Arabia and Russia announced Tuesday their plans to extend existing output cuts until the end of the year, with possible monthly revisions.
Saudi Arabia said it would extend its production cut of 1 million barrels per day (bpd) for another three months to cover October, November and December, pushing the country’s output to 9 million bpd for those months.
Russia also announced its intention to continue its voluntary oil export reduction of around 300,000 bpd for the rest of this year.
The week’s price upturns were backed by demand optimism from the world’s largest oil user, the US.
US commercial crude oil inventories decreased by 6.3 million barrels during the week ending Sept. 1, according to data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Thursday.
Signaling a demand increase in the country, the drawdown exceeded the American Petroleum Institute’s expectations of a 5.5 million-barrel fall.
