OPEC+ agrees major oil output cut

OPEC+ agrees major oil output cut

OPEC and its Russia-led allies agreed on a major cut in oil production on Wednesday, a move to prop up prices that could bolster sanction-hit Moscow's coffers and irk Washington.

The 13-nation OPEC cartel and its 10 Russian-led allies agreed to reduce two million barrels per day from November at a meeting in Vienna, said Iran's OPEC Governor Amir Hossein Zamaninia.

It is the biggest cut since the height of the Covid pandemic in 2020.

Such a move could turbocharge crude prices, further aggravating inflation which has reached decades-high levels in many countries and is contributing to a global economic slowdown.

It could also give Russia a boost ahead of a European Union ban on most of its crude exports later this year and a bid by the Group of Seven wealthy democracies to cap the country's oil prices.

US President Joe Biden personally appealed to Saudi leaders in July to boost production in order to tame prices which soared following Russia's invasion of Ukraine earlier this year.

But crude price have fallen in recent months on concerns over dwindling demand and fears over a possible global recession.

"With consumers only just breathing a sigh of relief after being forced to pay record prices at the