Oil price turnaround short-lived as Saudi Arabia rebuffs production cut

Price falls again by 3.5%

Saudi Arabia has shocked oil markets after refusing to cut oil production, following a deal made earlier this week with Russia to freeze supply at current record levels.

The agreement to freeze output at January levels reached by Russia and Saudi Arabia earlier this week was the first step in attempting to end the oil glut by the two largest producers in the world. But Adel al-Jubeir, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, has since said Riyadh is not prepared to cut production, causing oil prices to drop more than 3% after briefly rising by as much as 9% on Wednesday. Brent crude is currently trading at $33.95 per barrel, while WTI is down at $30.44. Adel al-Jubeir told AFP news agency: "If other producers want to limit or agree to a freeze in terms of ...