After concluding yesterday’s review committee meeting, Saudi Arabia, the de-facto oil export leader of the OPEC pledged further support to boost oil price by bringing supply and demand into balance. Saudi Arabia pledged to curb exports from next month and jointly with Russia, called on all members to comply with the agreed deal that aims to reduce global supplies by 1.76 million barrels per day. After a meeting in the Russian city of St. Petersburg on Monday, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-OPEC producers discussed extending their deal to cut output by 1.76 million barrels per day (bpd) beyond March 2018 if necessary. Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said that his country would limit its crude exports to 6.6 million bpd in August, almost 1 million bpd below the levels of a year ago.

In addition to that, it was revealed that Nigeria voluntarily joined the OPEC initiative by deciding to cap output at 1.8 million barrels per day. Based on secondary resources, Nigeria produced 1.733 million barrels per day and contributed an increase of 237,000 barrels per day since May. OPEC production increased by 762,000 barrels per day since May.

However, despite Nigeria’s production capping, the total production from the OPEC is set to rise by a third consecutive month in July and by at least 145,000 barrels per day as the production in Libya has reached above a million barrels per day. These fundamentals along with a rising production in the United States forcing investors to maintain a bearish outlook for oil. WTI is currently trading at $46.9 per barrel and Brent is trading at $2.3 per barrel premium to WTI.