Unexpected move comes ahead of Monday ministerial meeting
Total OPEC cut pledges now stand at 3.66 million bpd
Oil could jump 10 a barrel analyst

DUBAI, April 2 Reuters Saudi Arabia and other OPEC oil producers on Sunday announced further oil output cuts of around 1.16 million barrels per day, in a surprise move that analysts said would cause an immediate rise in prices and the United States called inadvisable.

The pledges bring the total volume of cuts by OPEC, which groups the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries with Russia and other allies, to 3.66 million bpd according to Reuters calculations, equal to 3.7 of global demand.

Sunday39;s development comes a day before a virtual meeting of an OPEC ministerial panel, which includes Saudi Arabia and Russia, and which had been expected to stick to 2 million bpd of cuts already in place until the end of 2023.

Oil prices last month fell towards 70 a barrel, the lowest in 15 months, on concern that a global banking crisis would hit demand. Still, further action by OPEC to support the market was not expected after sources downplayed this prospect and crude recovered towards 80.

The latest reductions could lift oil prices by 10 per barrel, the head of investment firm Pickering Energy Partners said on Sunday, while oil broker PVM said it expected an immediate jump once trading starts after the weekend.

I expect the market to open several dollars higher … possibly as much as 3, said PVM39;s Tamas Varga….