NEW YORK -- Crude oil rose more than 6 percent yesterday to a five-month high after some of the world's top producers agreed this week to meet in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, to work on an agreement to cut output and boost prices.
Saudi Arabia, the world's top producer, will meet with Mexico, Venezuela, Iran and others to hash out an agreement before the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries convenes March 23.
Oil fell to a 12-year low in December after OPEC failed to reduce supplies as expected. Chevron Corp., Exxon Corp. and Texaco Inc. led oil shares higher.
"The fact that they're getting together means that they already have a tacit agreement," said Michael Busby, manager of crude oil and refined products trading at Northville Industries Corp. in Melville, N.Y., the nation's top gasoline importer. "They're only getting together to finalize it."
April crude oil rose 84 cents, or 6.1 percent, to $14.69 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest closing price since Oct. 7. It was the biggest one-day gain since Jan. 6. Crude has gained 10 percent so far this week and 20 percent in March.
Prices are up about 43 percent from a 12-year low of $10.35 reached Dec. 21 on the Nymex. Still, oil is down 26 percent since November 1997, when OPEC voted to raise its production ceiling in anticipation of higher demand.
In London, April Brent crude oil rose 90 cents, or 7.8 percent, to $12.46 a barrel, on the International Petroleum Exchange.
Officials from oil-exporting countries are to meet in Amsterdam starting today to discuss a new round of output cuts aimed at boosting oil prices, according to a spokesman for Mexico's oil ministry.
Oil ministers from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar released a statement after meeting yesterday saying current oil prices were "unacceptable" and that they will take "all important means" to reduce production during the next few weeks.
OPEC failed to cut output at its last gathering in November after a squabble over who was responsible for breaking the last production-cut agreement, reached in June. The group's members reached 79 percent of their pledged cuts as of February.
Pub Date: 3/11/99