FXstreet

Succumbing to market pressure, crude producers' group OPEC and its 10 non-OPEC allies intervened to deepen their ongoing output cuts of 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) by another 500,000 bpd on Friday (December 6) following the conclusion of their meeting of ministers in Vienna, Austria. In a surprise for the market, OPEC revealed that bulk of the burden will largely fall on Saudi Arabia's shoulders, with the kingdom announcing it would cut "voluntarily" by 400,000 bpd. That marks an increase of 167,000 bpd and would keep Riyadh's headline production at 9.744 million bpd. Many OPEC members, often accused of non-compliance with the promised cuts, came out to say they would be pitching in.



For now though, oil benchmarks have responded positively. At 17:37 GMT on Friday, the Brent front-month contract was up +1.20% or 76 cents to $64.15 per barrel, while the West Texas Intermediate was trading 1.01% or 59 cents higher at $59.02 per barrel.

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