Oil Prices Surge Over 5% In Asia Trade Following Surprise OPEC+ Production Cut: These ETFs Could Draw Interest

Oil prices soared during Monday morning in Asian trade after The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, known as OPEC+, trimmed oil production by 1.16 million barrels per day beginning May, in a surprising move.

What Happened: Saudi Arabia will voluntarily cut output by 500,000 bpd from May until the end of 2023. The voluntary cuts begin from May and last until the end of the year. The pledges bring the total volume of reductions by OPEC+ to 3.66 million bpd, which is equal to 3.7% of global demand, according to Reuters calculations.

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West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures expiring in May rose 5.3% to trade at $79.67 per barrel while Brent futures expiring in June soared 5.18% to trade at $84.03 per barrel at the time of writing.

The United States Oil ETF USO had closed 1.71% higher on Friday while the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund XLE had ended 0.69% higher last week, ahead of the announcement. Other ETFs that are expected to gain attention in the wake of the development include Vanguard Energy Index Fund ETF VDE, SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Equipment & Services ETF XES and Invesco S&P SmallCap Energy ETF PSCE.

Expert Take: Giacomo Romeo, an equity analyst with Jefferies, told Bloomberg that the new cut, if fully implemented by the group, should allow material inventory draws already in second quarter. That's ahead of the third quarter, as previously expected, he said.

In October 2022, OPEC+ had decided on an output cut of two million barrels per day from November till the end of the year, a move that had angered Washington.

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