Oil prices determined to stay within $80

Oil prices rose by about one per cent today after top exporter, Saudi Arabia, announced a cut in supply for December.

International benchmark Brent crude oil futures were at 71.11 dollars per barrel at 0051 GMT, up by 93 cents, or 1.3 per cent from their last close.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures were at 60.73 dollars per barrel, up by 54 cents, or 0.9 per cent from their last settlement.

Saudi Arabia plans to reduce oil supply to world markets by 0.5 million barrels per day in December, Khalid al-Falih, its Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resource said on Sunday.

The country faces uncertain prospects in its attempts to persuade other producers to agree to a coordinated output cut.

Khalid al-Falih told reporters that Saudi Aramco’s customer crude oil nominations would fall by 500,000 bpd in December versus November due to seasonal lower demand.

“Saudi Arabia has stepped in front of the oil market bears, proactively announcing they will reduce exports,” said Stephen Innes, head of trading for Asia/Pacific at futures brokerage in Oanda in Singapore.

A big concern for Saudi Arabia and other traditional producers from the Middle East-dominated Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is the surge in U.S. output.