Oil rises 2% as Saudi Arabia and Russia keep supplies tight

Oil rises 2% as Saudi Arabia and Russia keep supplies tight

NNA - Oil prices gained about 2% on Thursday as Saudi Arabia and Russia took steps to keep supplies tight into September and possibly beyond.

Brent lt;LCOc1gt; futures rose $1.94, or 2.3%, to settle at $85.14 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose $2.06, or 2.6%, to settle at $81.55.

A lack of big price moves in recent weeks has cut Brent#39;s historic or actual 30-day close-to-close futures volatility to its lowest since February 2022.

In other oil markets, U.S. diesel futures rose about 2% to close at their highest since January 2023.

Saudi Arabianbsp;said it will extend a voluntary oil output cut of one million barrels per day (bpd) for a third month to include September, adding it could be extended beyond that or deepened.

Saudi production is expected to be around 9 million bpd in September.

Meanwhile Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said Russia would cut oil exports by 300,000 bpd in September.

Those announced cuts follow moves in June by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies like Russia, collectively known as OPEC+, to limit oil supply into 2024.

OPEC+ ministers will on Friday meet to review the market.

quot;We expect the (OPEC+) meeting to result in the producersrsquo; group