Crude oil prices were up on Friday as the output cut agreement between major oil producers officially kicks in on Friday.
International benchmark Brent crude was trading at $26.67 per barrel at 0702 GMT for a 5.54% increase after closing Thursday at $25.27 a barrel.
American benchmark West Texas Intermediate was at $19.10 a barrel at the same time for a 1.38% rise after ending the previous day at $ 18.84 per barrel.
The main significant support factor for the prices was the official start of the major oil producer countries' output cut deal. Saudi Arabia-led OPEC and Russia-led non-OPEC oil producing nations agreed on April 12 to lower their collective crude production by 9.7 million barrels per day (bpd) starting from May 1.
Lower-than-expected growth of US crude inventories also gave a boost to the prices. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday announced that commercial crude oil inventories increased by 9 million barrels, or 1.7%, to 527.6 million barrels for the week ending April 24, while the market expectation was a rise of 10.6 million barrels.
By Ebru Sengul Cevrioglu
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr