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OPEC Agrees to Cut Oil Production to Boost Prices

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OPEC President Qatar's Energy Minister Mohammed bin Saleh al-Sada and OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo address a news conference after a meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Vienna, Austria, Nov. 30, 2016.
OPEC President Qatar's Energy Minister Mohammed bin Saleh al-Sada and OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo address a news conference after a meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Vienna, Austria, Nov. 30, 2016.

OPEC agreed Wednesday to cut oil production for the first time since 2008, in an effort to boost prices and challenge non-OPEC producers to follow suit.

Iran’s oil minister said the cartel will cut production by 1.2 million barrels a day to 32.5 million, or about 1 percent of the world’s global output.

Before Wednesday's meeting in Vienna, Saudi Arabia’s energy minister said OPEC would ask non-members to also cut production

Russia, a non-OPEC member, agreed to cut its oil output by 300,000 barrels a day.

OPEC says it would like to see global oil prices between $55 and $60 a barrel - a level it says will help revive oil dependent economies that have suffered from two years of prices that frequently fell to less than $50 a barrel.

The news from OPEC and Russia caused a 10 percent surge in oil prices in New York and an overall boost in energy stocks.

Oil closed up $4.21 Wednesday at $49.44 a barrel.

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