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1st LD Writethru: Oil prices surge as Iran supports output freeze

Xinhua, February 18, 2016 Adjust font size:

Oil prices rocketed Wednesday as Iran supported a conditional output freeze deal proposed by top producers Russia and Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia and Russia announced Tuesday in Doha that they would halt production increases as long as other major producers followed suit. Under the deal, major producers would restrict output at January levels.

Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said Wednesday that the proposed production ceiling should be the first step toward stabilizing the market. The endorsement from Iran helped to boost the market.

Persistent oversupply, bloated inventories and a slew of negative economic news dragged crude prices down to a 12-year low last week.

The West Texas Intermediate for March delivery moved up 1.62 U.S. dollars to settle at 30.66 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for April delivery increased 2.32 dollars to close at 34.5 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange. Enditem