At $80.94 per barrel, oil prices have jumped to a four-year high today after OPEC declined to announce an immediate increase in production despite calls by US President Donald Trump for action to raise global supply.
Brent crude– the benchmark for more than half the world’s oil — rose 2.5 per cent today, the highest since November 2014.
Over the weekend, OPEC leader Saudi Arabia and its biggest oil-producer ally outside the group, Russia, ruled out any immediate extra increase in output, effectively snubbing pressure from Trump to lower the prices.
“I do not influence prices,” Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih told reporters as OPEC and non-OPEC energy ministers gathered in Algiers for a meeting that ended with no formal recommendation for any additional supply boost.
Trump had tweeted last week that OPEC “must get prices down now!”.
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