Brent goes through 54$, WTI 51$, oil hitting year highs
Oil has broken through its 2016 peak price, a barrel of Brent crude going north of $54 in trading, while WTI went over $51.
For OPEC, so far, so good. Brent just hit a one-year high of $53.79 pic.twitter.com/HuqBBgVEyx
— Will Kennedy (@wenkennedy) 1 décembre 2016
That makes a 10 percent rise in the week, quickening in pace following Wednesday’s OPEC deal.
Analysts are keen to point out that OPEC’s cuts agreed in Vienna represent production cuts, and do not cover export numbers. Russia will in any case only begin its progressive cuts in 2017, and fellow non-OPEC members are expected to go along with the plan at their meeting with OPEC on December 9 with cuts of their own.
Motorists will likely be feeling the effects at the pumps very soon and there will be knock-on effects throughout the economy over a longer timescale.
There are doubts discipline will hold, and cheating may undermine the deal. Iraq has seen constantly growing production over the past year and is in desperate need of cash, and several other members have volatile politics that could see the ranks breaking.
