- Too hot by day, Dubai's floodlit beaches are packed at night
- A 'forgotten' valley in storm-hit North Carolina, desperate for help
- Italy targets climate activists in 'anti-Gandhi' demo clampdown
- US trade chief defends tariff hikes when paired with investment
- EU court blocks French ban on vegetable 'steak' labelling
- Meta AI turns pictures into videos with sound
- US dockworkers return to ports after three-day strike
- DR Congo to begin mpox vaccination campaign Saturday in east
- Meta must limit data use for targeted ads: EU court
- Oil extends gains, jobs report lifts Wall Street
- US hiring soars past expectations in sign of resilient market
- As EU targets Chinese cars, European rivals sputter
- Top EU court finds against FIFA in key transfer market ruling
- Oil extends gains, Hong Kong stocks resume rally
- 'A man provides': Ukrainian miners send families away as Russia advances
- EU states greenlight extra tariffs on EVs from China
- Hong Kong stocks resume rally, oil dips after Middle East-fuelled surge
- Crude stable after Israel-Iran surge, Hong Kong stocks resume gains
- Hera spacecraft to probe asteroid deflected by defence test
- US dockworkers to head back to work after tentative deal
- After Helene's destruction, North Carolina starts to rebuild
- Dockers end three-day strike at Montreal port
- What next for OpenAI after $157 billion bonanza?
- Israel-Hamas war causes 86-percent dive in Gaza GDP: IMF
- Milan's Morata moves house after Inter-fan town mayor 'violates' privacy
- 'Devastating' storm hits Augusta National but Masters will go on
- Relief in Brazil, Asia over delay to EU deforestation rules
- Oil prices jump, stocks fall on Middle East tensions
- Biden says 'discussing' possible Israeli strikes on Iran oil facilities
- Oil prices rise, stocks fall on Middle East tensions
- Oil rallies, stocks mostly retreat on Middle East tensions
- Phasing out teen smoking could save 1.2 mn lives: study
- 'Welcome relief': Asia producers hail EU deforestation law delay
- Japan PM slated to announce plans for 'happiness index'
- Turkish inflation falls less than expected in September at 49.4%
- Easing inflation lifts profit at UK supermarket Tesco
- Skiing calls on UN climate science to combat melting future
- China wine industry looks to breed climate resilience
- Tokyo rallies on weak yen, Hong Kong drops after surge
- Dutch airline KLM unveils 'firm' cost-cutting measures
- Carpe diem: the Costa Rican women turning fish into fashion
- Senegal looks to aquaculture as fish stocks dwindle
- Will AI one day win a Nobel Prize?
- Climate change, economics muddy West's drive to curb Chinese EVs
- Argentina's Milei vetoes university budget after huge protests
- TotalEnergies plans to grow oil and gas production until 2030
- 2024 Nobels offer glimmer of hope as global crises mount
- Tokyo rallies on weak yen, Hong Kong reverses after surge
- Tunisia readies for vote as incumbent Saied eyes victory
- High childcare costs in US weigh on women's employment
OPEC+ agrees major oil output cut
OPEC and its Russia-led allies agreed on a major cut in oil production on Wednesday, a move to prop up prices that could bolster sanction-hit Moscow's coffers and irk Washington.
The 13-nation OPEC cartel and its 10 Russian-led allies agreed to reduce two million barrels per day from November at a meeting in Vienna, said Iran's OPEC Governor Amir Hossein Zamaninia.
It is the biggest cut since the height of the Covid pandemic in 2020.
Such a move could turbocharge crude prices, further aggravating inflation which has reached decades-high levels in many countries and is contributing to a global economic slowdown.
It could also give Russia a boost ahead of a European Union ban on most of its crude exports later this year and a bid by the Group of Seven wealthy democracies to cap the country's oil prices.
US President Joe Biden personally appealed to Saudi leaders in July to boost production in order to tame prices which soared following Russia's invasion of Ukraine earlier this year.
But crude price have fallen in recent months on concerns over dwindling demand and fears over a possible global recession.
"With consumers only just breathing a sigh of relief after being forced to pay record prices at the pump, today's cut is not going to go down well," said Craig Erlam, an analyst at trading platform OANDA, ahead of the meeting.
When asked how the United States would react to a cut, the energy minister of the United Arab Emirates, Suhail al-Mazrouei, insisted that OPEC was merely a "technical organisation".
Alexander Novak, the Russian deputy prime minister in charge of energy who is under US sanctions, remained mum as he arrived for the group's first in-person meeting at its Vienna headquarters since March 2020.
- Geopolitical tensions -
Collectively known as OPEC+, the alliance drastically slashed output by almost 10 million barrels per day (bpd) in April 2020 to reverse a massive drop in crude prices caused by Covid lockdowns.
OPEC+ began to raise production last year after the market improved. Output returned to pre-pandemic levels this year, but only on paper as some members have struggled to meet their quotas.
The group agreed last month on a small, symbolic cut of 100,000 bpd from October, the first in more than a year.
Consumer countries had pushed for months for OPEC+ to open taps more widely to bring down prices, but the group ignored them again.
"Knowing that Russia is willing to cut output, the move could also be perceived as another escalation of the geopolitical tensions" between Moscow and the West, said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, a Swissquote bank analyst.
- US elections -
Biden made a controversial trip to Saudi Arabia in July in part to convince the kingdom to loosen the production taps. The trip saw Biden meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman despite his promise to make Riyadh a "pariah" following the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
The OPEC+ decision comes ahead of a midterm congressional elections in the United States next month, and a surge in prices for Americans at fuel stations would not help Biden's cause.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Tuesday that "we will continue to take steps to protect American consumers", declining to comment on the OPEC discussions directly.
While the cut will not be welcomed by the United States, several OPEC+ nations have struggled to meet their quotas in the first place.
After rallying earlier this week on speculation over the OPEC+ cut, the international benchmark, Brent North Sea crude, seesawed on Wednesday at around $92.
burs-jza/lth
O.Ignatyev--CPN