OPEC's first production cuts in eight years are intended to shrink the world's bloated oil stockpiles back to a normal level, paving the way for prices to rise to more than $60 a barrel.
Bigger volumes of oil in storage mean lower prices, but the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries' "landmark" agreement to cut production will accelerate the decline of global stockpiles, Secretary-General Mohammad Barkindo said. Within nine months, OPEC's deal should bring inventories closer to normal levels and potentially lift crude prices as high as $US70 a barrel, said Venezuelan Oil Minister Eulogio del Pino.
