Oil prices have surged by more than 5% after several of the world’s largest exporters announced surprise cuts in production.
According to the BBC, the price of Brent crude oil is trading above $84 a barrel – as economists warned that higher oil prices could make it harder to bring down the cost of living.
Brent crude prices reportedly rose after Saudi Arabia, Iraq and several Gulf states that make up the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its observers, said on Sunday they were cutting output by more than one million barrels of oil a day.
In addition, Russia said it will extend its cut of half a million barrels per day until the end of the year.
Energy giants BP and Shell saw their share prices rise on Monday, with both rising more than 4%, BBC reports.
The reduction in output is being made by members of the Opec+ oil producers, which account for about 40% of all the world’s crude oil output.
