Oil prices rise after OPEC+ keeps output cut targets
Oil prices have risen after major producers agreed to continue to cut output and the Group of Seven (G7) price cap on Russian seaborne oil came into force on Monday as the West tries to limit Moscow's ability to finance its war in Ukraine.
Brent crude rose by about 0.6% to above $86 a barrel on Monday morning, BBC reports.
While prices rose as much as 2% earlier in the day, both the Brent and US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) contracts have since pared some gains. WTI crude futures gained 51 cents, or 0.6%, to $80.49 a barrel.
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On Friday, the G7 agreed to cap the price of Russian oil at $60 a barrel to raise pressure on Russia over the invasion of Ukraine.
Meanwhile, the oil producers' group Opec+ said at the weekend it would stick to its policy of reducing output.
Opec+ is a group of 23 oil-exporting countries, including Russia, which meets regularly to decide how much crude oil to sell on the world market.
"This decision by Opec+ to keep the quota where it is... is by itself an implicit sort of support to the oil market," Kang Wu of S&P Global Commodity Insights told the BBC.
Analysts said oil prices had also been boosted by the easing of Covid restrictions in some Chinese cities, which could lead to an increase in demand for oil.
More cities in China, including Urumqi in the northwest, have said they will loosen curbs after mass protests against the country's zero-Covid policy.
