Oil and Gas

Oil jumps 12% amid possible OPEC deal

ABOUT FACE: OPEC members appear ready to cooperate on production cuts.

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

The West Texas Intermediate crude price jumped 12 percent Friday after the United Arab Emirates energy minister said late Thursday that members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries are ready to cooperate on possible production cuts, Market Watch reports.

Venezuela, meanwhile, proposed that OPEC and non-OPEC producers should at least freeze output at the current level.

The market is taking the comments from the U.A.E. minister “seriously because the U.A.E. is doing an about face,” said Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at Price Futures Group.

The U.A.E. was “saying a month ago a cut was going to be over their dead body basically,” said Flynn. “Well, maybe hell froze over.”

The price increase came a day after oil settled at a nearly 13-year low Thursday. WTI fell 4.5% to $26.21 on Thursday, its lowest settlement since May 6, 2003.

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