Oil surges after OPEC+ holds cuts, strong U.S. jobs growth

Oil surges after OPEC+ holds cuts, strong U.S. jobs growth

NEW YORK - Oil prices jumped about 3% on Friday, hitting their highest levels in more than a year, following a stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs report and a decision by OPEC and its allies not to increase supply in April.Brent futures rose $2.62, or 3.9%, to settle at $69.36 a barrel. The session high for the global benchmark was its highest since January 2020.For the week, Brent was up 5.2%, rising for a seventh week in a row for the first time since December, while WTI was up about 7.4% after gaining almost 4% last week.Both contracts surged more than 4% on Thursday after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, together known as OPEC+, extended oil output curbs into April, granting small exemptions to Russia and Kazakhstan. "OPEC+ settled for a cautious approach ... opting to increase production by just 150,000 barrels per day (bpd) in April while market participants looked for an increase of 1.5 million bpd," said UBS oil analyst Giovanni Staunovo.Investors were surprised that Saudi Arabia had decided to maintain its voluntary cut of 1 million bpd through April even after the oil price rally of the past two months on the back of COVID-19 vaccination