Oil prices are surging after the world's largest oil cartel agreed to limit production. OPEC members have been trying to bridge their differences on a way to alleviate a price slump. It's their first such deal since 2008, when demand was shrinking due to the global economic slowdown.
Members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries are holding an informal meeting in Algeria. That's where they decided to limit output to between 32.5 and 33 million barrels a day. How much each country will produce will be decided at the next formal OPEC meeting in November.
Saudi Arabia, Russia, and other major oil producers discussed a possible freeze of production levels in April, but failed to reach an agreement. And in June, Saudi Arabia and Iran failed to narrow their differences on a collective output quota, or production control.
Crude oil prices spiked in New York Wednesday, following reports of the OPEC agreement. The benchmark WTI futures temporarily rose to the 47-dollar level. That's up more than six percent from the figure the previous day.
◆surge 急騰する
◆alleviate 緩和する
◆slowdown 減速
◆freeze 凍結、（量や価格の）据え置き
◆collective グループ全体の
◆quota 割当
◆crude oil 原油
◆spike 急上昇する
◆collective 基準指標の、ベンチマークの
◆futures 先物（取引）
