Record high: Oil hits $71 a barrel for the first time since 2014

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Brent crude oil has hit $71 a barrel today for the first time since 2014, owing to the weakened US dollar and OPEC-led supply curbs.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other producers outside the oil cartel, including Russia, had agreed late last year to extend an accord to hold back crude output by 1.8m barrels a day till the end of 2018. An involuntary drop in Venezuela’s output in recent months has deepened the impact of those cuts.

According to reports, Brent crude oil was up 0.34 per cent at $70.76 a barrel on London’s Intercontinental Exchange.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin had said yesterday during the Davos summit that “a weaker dollar is good for trade,” boosting the price of oil and other dollar-denominated commodities.