Oil gets boost on hints of production cut extension

Friday,   23-Mar-2018   04:16 PM (IST)

Oil prices continued to rise on Friday, bolstered by news that production cuts from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and Russia could be extended into 2019.Saudi Arabian Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said on Thursday that OPEC members will need to continue coordinating with Russia and other non-OPEC oil-producing countries on supply restraints in 2019 to reduce the global oil oversupply.OPEC, of which Saudi Arabia is the de-facto leader, has been cutting crude output by 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) to prop up oil prices.U.S. crude oil futures rose 0.22% to $64.44, Friday, while Brent oil gained 0.06% to $68.95.Offsetting OPEC-led production cuts, increasing output stateside has been stoking concerns that the escalation of U.S. shale would counteract attempts to rebalance the market.Market participants will get the latest indication of the status quo when Baker Hughes releases its most recent weekly rig count data later on Friday.