- Crude oil prices are rising, as OPEC says in its monthly report that the cartel's production fell by nearly 800K bbl/day in January to 30.8M bbl/day, and Saudi Arabia pledges to cut output by at least 500K bbl/day more than it originally planned; WTI +1.9% to $53.42/bbl, Brent +1.9% to $62.68/bbl.
- Saudi Energy Minister al-Falih announced the move, which would reduce Saudi production to 9.8M bbl/day in March, in an interview with the Financial Times.
- Energy shares could enjoy an early boost from the news; XLE +1.3%, USO +2.3% pre-market.
- The OPEC monthly report provides the most official data so far that the cartel is fulfilling its pledge from late last year to absorb excess global oil supply through coordinated production cuts.
- But OPEC also cuts its forecast for 2019 world oil demand, citing slowing economies and expectations of faster supply growth from rivals; the cartel now expects demand for its crude to fall to 30.59M bbl/day, 240K bbl/day less than predicted last month.
- ETFs: USO, OIL, UWT, UCO, DWT, SCO, BNO, DBO, DTO, USL, DNO, OLO, SZO, OLEM, WTIU, OILK, OILX, WTID, USOI, USOU, USOD, OILD, OILU, USAI
- Now read: Crude Oil Sits Near Its Low
Original article