Saudi announced the extension of voluntary oil production cuts until the end of August.
The Saudi Press Agency (SPA) quoted an official source in the Ministry of Energy as saying, “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will extend the voluntary reduction of one million barrels per day, which began to be applied in July, for another month, to include the month of August with the possibility of extending it, so that the Kingdom’s production in August 2023 is approximately 9 million barrels per day.”
Read: Saudi’s production cut sends crude oil prices soaring in Asian market
The source explained that this reduction is, in addition to the voluntary reduction previously announced by the Kingdom last April, which extends until the end of December 2024.
In early June, OPEC Plus producers decided to maintain the current cuts until the end of 2024, while Saudi Arabia said it would voluntarily cut its production by one million bpd in July, to about 9 million bpd.
Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman had earlier said the cut was likely to be “extendable”.
The source confirmed to “SPA” that this additional voluntary cut, “comes to strengthen the precautionary efforts made by the OPEC+ countries with the aim of supporting the stability and balance of oil markets.”
Shortly after Saudi Arabia’s announcement, Moscow also announced it would cut its oil exports by about 500,000 barrels per day in August, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said.
“As part of efforts to ensure that the oil market remains balanced, Russia will voluntarily reduce its oil supply in August by 500,000 barrels per day by reducing that amount from its exports to world markets,” Novak said.
Novak’s office later said Russia would cut its oil output by an additional 500,000 bpd in August, on top of the same amount it pledged to cut from March until the end of the year.
Shortly afterward, Brent crude was up 0.89 percent at $76.06, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude gained 81 cents to $71.45 a barrel.
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