OPEC has announced a surprise cut in supplies, sending oil...
OPEC has announced a surprise cut in supplies, sending oil prices above $ 30 and sparking a warning from the United States not to hurt economic growth.
The 11 member nations agreed to cut production by 4 per cent, or a million barrels a day, to 23.5 million barrels from the beginning of April.
They also pledged to eliminate 1.5 million barrels a day of leakage being pumped above existing supply quotas.
Oil prices rose on the news. In London, Brent crude climbed 92 cents to $ 30.03 a barrel while in the US prices of light oil were up 66 cents at $ 33.49.
Saudi Arabia said action was needed to prevent a price crash as demand slackened and world oil stocks built up after the northern hemisphere winter. Its oil minister Ali al-Naimi said: "The inventory, where it is now, is fine, we don't want to see it building. We don't want to see a precipitous fall in prices."
