Oil

Birol has welcomed efforts by top OPEC producer Saudi Arabia to increase output.

Chinese oil product consumption between January and August rose by 5.8 percent compared to the same period last year.

U.S. sanctions will target Iran’s crude oil exports from Nov. 4.

Saudi Arabia has been under pressure by the US to pump more barrels to prevent oil prices from overheating.

The administration is prepared to work with countries that are reducing their imports on a case-by-case basis.

Goldman’s analysts said production in Libya and Nigeria was higher than expected.

Russia and Iran are still considering how to make payments to one another in their national currencies.

Iran accused Saudi Arabia and Russia on Wednesday of breaking OPEC’s agreement on output cuts by producing more crude.

Oil producers have added a total of about 1 million bpd output in ``recent weeks and months``.

Brent has risen by more than 20 percent from its most recent lows in August.