Oil prices rose to their highest levels in 2019 on Monday as a result of OPEC-led production cuts and U.S. sanctions against Iran and Venezuela.
West Texas Medium Crude Oil (WTI) crude oil futures hit $56 a barrel for the first time this year, then rebounded to $55.89 a barrel at 0051 GMT. This is still 0.5% of their last solution.
International Brent crude oil futures hit a 2019 high of $66.61 a barrel earlier Monday, then fell back to $66.47 a barrel, still 0.3% higher than the previous closing price.
For these two benchmarks, these are the highest levels since November 2018.
Some non-affiliated producers, such as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and Russia, agreed to cut production by 1.2 million barrels per day at the end of last year to prevent a substantial increase in excess supply.
The United States has imposed sanctions on Iran and Venezuela, oil exporters and members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), further pushing up oil prices.
At least to some extent, these declines were offset by an increase of more than 2 million barrels of U.S. crude oil production in 2018, reaching a record 11.9 million barrels a day.
There are signs that U.S. production will rise further.
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