Oil surges on OPEC deal

The price for North Sea Brent crude was up 0.02 percent at $48.70 (42.83 euros) a barrel in Asia on Thursday, adding to overnight gains of a staggering 5.9 percent in the wake of the OPEC deal.

US light oil WTI rose 0.3 percent to $47.17 a barrel after surging 5.3 percent on Wednesday, when it hit its highest since September 9.

At the end of six hours of negotiations and weeks of horse trading,the 14-member OPEC unveiled a plan to cut production by 750,000 barrels to about 32.5 million barrels per day (mbp). The news came as a surprise to many market-watchers who had feared the fractious oil cartel would not be able to reach a consensus.

Iran - whose refusal to limit output caused a similar meeting to break down in April - will, however, not join the reduction, a major concession from OPEC kingpin and bitter rival Saudi Arabia. Details of the cuts will be agreed at the group's twice-yearly meeting on November 30.

Algerian Energy Minister Noureddine Boutarfa described the move as a "historic decision" which had been taken unanimously.

Welcome relief

The announcement was immediately cheered on oil markets where traders had been praying for a cut as global oversupply has hammered prices for the past two years, sending them to near 13-year lows of below $30 at one point in early 2016.

"OPEC pulled the oil rabbit out of the hat last night, agreeing a modest production cut that blindsided the market," Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at OANDA, said in a note. "It is Saudi Arabia who has clearly blinked first, allowing Iran, its main rival, to ramp up production."

While markets were broadly optimistic about the deal, some analysts pointed out that a further rise in crude prices may be difficult as US shale producers who have been cutting production in recent months may start increasing output.

"Despite the favorable oil deal, foreign institutional investors are sticking to their favorite counters before the US elections results as there is simply too much market uncertainty," said Andrew Sullivan, managing director at Haitong International Securities Group in Hong Kong.

Energy stocks boost markets

European shares climbed higher in early trading on Thursday, with energy shares rallying on the OPEC deal.

The European oil and gas index soared more than four percent and was poised for its best day in three months. Tullow Oil jumped more than 10 percent while heavyweights Royal Dutch Shell, Total and BP were up between four and five percent. Their gains boosted the pan-European STOXX 600 index, which rose about one percent.

Earlier in the day, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.8 percent by mid-morning, thanks to a bounce in energy shares. Japan's Nikkei climbed 1.4 percent, after losing 1.3 percent the previous day. 

The currencies of oil-exporting countries such as Canada and Norway had surged after the deal late on Wednesday, and were still trading more than one percent higher than their levels before the oil deal was announced. The Norwegian crown was a clear winner, hitting a 14-month high of nine cronor to the euro.

uhe/jd (Reuters, dpa, AFP)