SINGAPORE- Oil climbed on Monday after major producers agreed to extend a deal on record output cuts to the end of July and as China’s crude imports hit an all-time high in May.
Brent crude was up 89 cents, or 2.1 percent, at $43.19 per barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 62 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $40.17 a barrel.
Both hit their highest since March 6 earlier in the session, at $43.41 and $40.44, respectively.
Brent has nearly doubled since the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Russia and allies – collectively known as OPEC+ – agreed in April to cut supply by 9.7 million barrels per day (bpd) during May-June to prop up prices that collapsed due to the coronavirus crisis.
On Saturday, OPEC+ agreed to extend the deal to withdraw almost 10 percent of global supplies from the market by a third month to end-July. Following the extension, top exporter Saudi Arabia hiked its monthly crude prices for July.
