Oil prices ended the week only slightly higher after a spike in prices following last weekend’s accord by several non-Opec countries to join in with production cuts came unraveled. International benchmark Brent closed at $54.02 per barrel Thursday, up just 13￠/bbl on the week having gone briefly above $56 in Monday trade after 11 non-Opec countries pledged to cut production by more than 550,000 barrels per day - agreeing to joint market action with their Opec counterparts for the first time in 15 years. US price-pin WTI closed at $50.90/bbl for a 6￠ gain on the week. Russia will shoulder more than half of the 558,000 b/d non-Opec cut, trimming its output by 300,000 b/d - but Moscow has since said that cuts will be voluntary. The non-Opec contribution was less than the 600,000 b/d Opec had hoped for, but when added to the 1.2 million b/d Opec itself agreed to cut on Nov. 30, a significant total of 1.758 million b/d will come out of the market early next year. In its December Oil Market Report released Tuesday, the International Energy Agency made the point that Opec output was 1.4 million b/d higher than a year ago in October. A stronger dollar knocked back oil prices later in the week as did bloated stocks around WTI’s Cushing, Oklahoma pricing point.
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