Key Currency Exchange Rates for Friday, 12/29/17

Futures rose as much as 1 percent in New York. Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s largest producer, will limit exports to 6.6 million barrels a day in August, 1 million lower than year earlier, Minister of Energy and Industry Khalid Al-Falih said after a meeting with fellow producers. The nations gathering in St. Petersburg, Russia, made no major changes to their wider supply agreement, stopping short of capping output of Libya and Nigeria. "Some countries continue to lag" in their compliance "which is a concern we must address head on," Al-Falih told reporters before the meeting ended. While other producers support the recovery in output from Libya and Nigeria "the committee, however, should monitor the impact of such growth in supply on global supply-demand balances." Click Read More below for additional detail.

National Average Price for Regular Unleaded Current: $3.162; Month Ago: $3.126; Year Ago: $3.274. National Average Price for Diesel Current: $3.694; Month Ago: $3.650; Year Ago: $4.097.

Oil traded near the highest level in more than two years as political upheaval in top crude exporter Saudi Arabia reverberated through a market where prices were already elevated by signs of tightening supply. Investors have piled into oil as a shake-up of the ruling elite in OPEC’s biggest producer was seen to consolidate power with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who backs extending the group’s output cuts aimed at clearing a global glut. The purge also raised concern over instability in the kingdom, supporting a geopolitical-risk premium on crude that’s emerged with heightened tensions surrounding nations such as Iraq and Iran. Oil’s gained more than 20 percent since the beginning of September on signs global supplies are tightening and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies may prolong their output deal past March. Click Read More below for additional information.