(London) Crude prices rebounded slightly on Friday, after a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman with discussions on oil.
Around 7:10 a.m. (Eastern time), the price of a barrel of North Sea Brent, for delivery in February, rose 1.61% to $75.24.
Its American equivalent, a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in January, gained 1.59% to $70.44, rising above $70 per barrel.
“Prices increased on Friday following interventions by Russia and Saudi Arabia to ensure that OPEC members (the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies, Editor’s note) respect agreed production cuts.” , explains Stephen Innes, analyst at SPI AM.
The slight rebound in oil comes after a rare face-to-face meeting in Riyadh between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
They stressed “the importance of energy cooperation and the need for all countries to join the OPEC agreement, in a way that serves the interests of producers and consumers and supports growth of the global economy,” according to a joint statement released Thursday.
Until then, the market had been rather skeptical about the additional production cuts announced by some OPEC members at the end of November, in addition to the extension of those of Saudi Arabia and Russia – an additional approximately 900,000 barrels per day of crude is expected to be removed from production through March 2024.
These announcements did not convince investors, with prices falling to their lowest level in 5 months.