Oil prices fall following Saudi-backed OPEC+ production cut
The decrease in production could be a message from Saudi Arabia to the US over the Iran nuclear deal.
Oil prices have increased and decreased over the past two days in response to oil producers announcing a big production cut.
What happened: The price of Brent crude — considered the global benchmark for oil prices — fell more than 3% on the day to less than $93 per barrel as of 2:20 pm ET. Yesterday, the price increased from around $94 a barrel to nearly $97, according to market data.
The price fluctuations followed the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and Russia deciding yesterday to cut oil production by 100,000 barrels a day for October. This constituted a reversal for the so-called OPEC+ alliance, which boosted production throughout the summer amid historically high prices following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Why it matters: US President Joe Biden pushed Saudi Arabia — OPEC’s largest producer — to boost oil production during his July visit to the country in an effort to bring down prices in the United States. The kingdom declined to significantly boost production, however. The OPEC+ production increases this year have been relatively modest.
