Oil prices rose in Asian trade after major oil exporters agreed on a production freeze, although market watchers were skeptical over how effective the deal would be in an already over-supplied market
Benchmark U.S. WTI light sweet crude was 1.4 percent higher at $29.45 a barrel, while European Brent crude gained 2.0percent to $32.82 a barrel, after volatility in prior U.S. and European sessions.
On Tuesday, WTI settled 1.4 percent lower in the Asian session after gaining as much as 7.1 percent intraday; Brent settled3.6 percent lower after jumping 6.5 percent intraday on hopes of a supply cut deal.
The oil price had gyrated Tuesday on supply-cut hopes ahead of meeting of top exporters in Doha, Qatar. Those hopes were dashed when Russia and Saudi Arabia agreed to freeze output at January's levels instead.Qatar and Venezuela have already agreed to participate but the deal was also contingent on other producers joining in.
It could become the first joint OPEC and non-OPEC deal in 15 years, as oil producers seek to boost persistently low oil prices. The energy commodity has declined 70 percent since the summer of 2014.
Iran, which was not present on Tuesday's meeting, planned to increase output by at least 500,000 barrels a day this year following the lifting of Western sanctions last month. Iran quickly said it wouldn't participate in any supply-freeze deal, but Reuters cited sources saying that that the country could be offered special terms on production levels if it took part in the deal.
Reference: CNBC
Read More: http://www.cnbc.com/2016/02/
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