Oil prices surge again on hopes of OPEC output deal

Crude prices continued to soar on Friday following the biggest one-day increase ever during the previous session, as OPEC and its allies are set to hold their first meeting next week to try to balance the market.

International benchmark Brent surged 15 percent to $34.44 per barrel while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose 12 percent to $28.50 per barrel. WTI is up 30 percent for the week which could be its best week in history.

Prices skyrocketed on Thursday after US President Donald Trump told CNBC that he expected Moscow and Riyadh to announce a deal on production cuts by 10 million to 15 million barrels. 

Non-OPEC member Azerbaijan announced that OPEC and its allies are expected to hold discussions on Monday via video conference, concerning the situation on the oil market and a new declaration of cooperation. It added that the meeting will be held on the invitation of the de facto leader of the oil alliance, Saudi Arabia, which called for urgent talks “to try and reach a fair deal to restore balance to the oil market.”  

Last month, the OPEC+ nations failed to agree on production cuts. Following the disagreement, Saudi Arabia threatened to flood the market with oil. The announcement has caused the worst crude price decline in almost 30 years. On Wednesday, the kingdom ramped up its production to a record high of more than 12 million barrels per day, after previous OPEC+ production cuts expired at the end of March.

For more stories on economy & finance visit RT's business section