Crude oil prices jumped on 12th April and closed at 2016 highs after reports that Saudi Arabia and Russia have reached an agreement on an oil-production freeze, Business Insider informed. West Texas Intermediate crude futures in New York surged by as much as 4.48% to a year-to-date high of $42.23 per barrel. Brent crude futures were up 4.3% at $44.69 a barrel.
A report from Russian news agency Interfax, cited an anonymous source saying that Saudi Arabia and Russia made the decision regardless whether Iran is in or not. At the same time, Bloomberg reported that Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that “there is hope” for an agreement regardless of Iran.
As CNBC wrote, oil markets were already boosted ahead of an OPEC member meeting with outside producers in Doha, Qatar, but the comments fueled hopes that oil producers will agree on steps to tackle a supply glut.
However, on 13th April, oil futures fell again around 2% over concerns that a scheduled world oil producers meeting could fail to rein in ballooning overproduction, while a stronger dollar also weighed on fuel markets, Reuters reported.
