Brent oil jumps to four-year high

LONDON: Oil prices jumped more than 2 per cent to a four-year high on Monday after Opec declined to announce an immediate increase in production despite calls by US President Donald Trump for action to raise global supply. Benchmark Brent crude hit its highest since November 2014 at $80.94 per barrel, up $2.14 or 2.7 per cent, before easing back to around $80.65 by 1000 GMT. US light crude was $1.25 higher at $72.03. “This is the oil market’s response to the Opec+ group’s refusal to step up its oil production,” said Carsten Fritsch, commodities analyst at Commerzbank in Frankfurt.

Opec leader Saudi Arabia and its biggest oil-producer ally outside the group, Russia, on Sunday ruled out any immediate extra increase in output, effectively rebuffing a call by Trump for action to cool the market. “I do not influence prices,” Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al Falih told reporters as Opec and non-Opec energy ministers gathered in Algiers for a meeting that ended with no formal recommendation for any additional supply boost. Trump said last week that Opec “must get prices down now!”, but Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said on Monday Opec had not responded positively to Trump’s demands. — Reuters