Oil prices surge after surprise move to cut output

Oil prices have surged after several of the world's largest exporters announced surprise cuts in production, El.kz cites BBC.

The price of Brent crude oil is trading above $84 a barrel after jumping by more than 5%.

Economists warned that higher oil prices could make it harder to bring down the cost of living.

But the RAC motoring group said it does not expect petrol prices to rise unless the higher oil price is sustained over several days.

Brent crude prices rose after Saudi Arabia, Iraq and several Gulf states said on Sunday they were cutting output by more than one million barrels of oil a day.

In addition, Russia said it will extend its cut of half a million barrels per day until the end of the year.

Energy giants BP and Shell saw their share prices rise on Monday, with both rising more than 4%.

Oil prices soared when Russia invaded Ukraine, but are now back at levels seen before the conflict began.

However, the US has been calling for producers to increase output in order to push energy prices lower. A spokesperson for the US National Security Council said: "We don't think cuts are advisable at this moment given market uncertainty - and we've made that clear."

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