<p style=““ class=“text-align-justify“>The decision by Russia is to voluntarily cut oil output by 500k bpd in March, with Novak stating that this will „facilitate the restoration of market relations“. He also adds that Russia may take further actions depending on the market situation and it is being reported that Russia did not consult with OPEC+ on the decision.</p><p style=““ class=“text-align-justify“>If anything else, the fact that Russia is acting independently is a major blow to those hoping for some kind of stability in the outlook for the oil market. You have to wonder what Saudi Arabia has to say about this and if this will be received kindly by OPEC+ members. I would assume so but you don’t really want to risk Russia going off the rails and creating its own tangent when it comes to decision-making on oil production.</p><p style=““ class=“text-align-justify“>Looking at the chart, oil has been mostly consolidating between $70 and $80 in the past two months and the latest push higher today brings price close to testing its 100-day moving average (red line) once more. Keep below and the consolidation price action looks set to continue but break above and push past short-term resistance at around $82.50-30, then we can start talking about a potential move towards $90 again.</p>

This article was written by Justin Low at www.forexlive.com.