Oil prices rose nearly 3% on Thursday, extending their rally on optimism over Opec's first output cut plan in eight years, despite some analysts' doubts that the reduction would be enough to rebalance a heavily over-supplied market.
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed on Wednesday to cut output to 32.5-33.0mn barrels per day (bpd) from around 33.5mn bpd, estimated by Reuters to be the output level in August.
Opec said other details of the plan will be known at its policy meeting in November, leaving unanswered when the agreement will come into effect, what new quotas for member countries will be and for what periods, and how compliance will be verified.
Earlier in the day, oil was down, with crude futures retreating from their 6% gain on Wednesday, the biggest in a day since April. A steady dollar and weak US stock market also limited some of the upside in oil in early trading.
Brent crude futures were up $1.06, or 2.2%, at $49.75 by 12:30 p.m. EDT. Brent hit a session peak at $49.81, the highest since September 9, after falling to $47.99 earlier.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose $1.20, or 2.6%, to $48.25. WTI hit a one-month high of $48.32, after a session low at $46.60.