Brent Crude Oil Climbs Above $50 as OPEC Said Very Close to Deal
- Deal would cut 1.4 million barrels a day, OPEC delegate says
- Accord would include additional 600,000-barrel cut by non-OPEC
OPEC Agreement Puts Bulk of Cuts on Gulf Allies
Brent crude broke through $50 a barrel for the first time since Oct. 28 as OPEC was said to be near to finalizing an agreement to cut supply and stabilize global markets.
Futures jumped as much as 8.8 percent percent in London Wednesday. OPEC is very close to a deal that would remove 1.4 million barrels a day of collective production, a delegate to a ministerial meeting underway in Vienna said. An agreement would include an additional 600,000 barrels a day of cuts from non-OPEC suppliers, the delegate said. Russia, the biggest producer outside the bloc, has said that if OPEC agrees individual country quotas, it is ready to participate, including possibly by reducing its output, a person familiar with Russian thinking said.