Oil rises above $53, OPEC+ agrees on output rollover

The international oil benchmark, Brent crude, surged above $53 per barrel on Tuesday as the Organisation of the Exporting Countries and its allies agreed to hold production steady in the face of new coronavirus lockdowns.

Brent, against which Nigeria’s oil is priced, rose by $2.46 to $53.55 per barrel as of 9:30 pm Nigerian time on Tuesday.

Saudi Arabia, OPEC de facto leader, will make additional, voluntary oil output cuts of one million barrels per day in February and March.

Saudi is going beyond its promised cuts to support both its own economy and the oil market, energy minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, said on Tuesday, according to Reuters.

The move follows two days of talks among OPEC and its allies, a group known as OPEC+, that will see most members hold output steady next month.

Two producers – Russia and Kazakhstan – will be allowed to bump up their output by a combined 75,000 bpd in February and a further 75,000 bpd in March, Kazakhstan’s energy minister said.

Russia and Kazakhstan had pushed for the group to raise production by 500,000 bpd for February, as it had done for January, while others wanted no increase.