US crude futures post their largest one-day gain since July 7, climbing 2.6% to finish at $81.55 a barrel and leaving them nearly $1 higher for the week with one trading day left.
The gains were largely in response to an announcement this morning by Saudi Arabia, extending its 1-million-barrel-a-day production cuts to at least the end of September. What's more, it said it may even extend them again after that and may even cut by more.
That was a surprise, as many analysts felt that if the Saudis were leaning in any direction, it was toward reducing the output cuts. Next up for the market is tomorrow's weekly US rig-count report by oilfield services company Baker Hughes.
Source: marketwatch
