Thomson Reuters
WSJ reporter Georgi Kantchev tweeted on Thursday that the kingdom has cut oil output by at least 486,000 barrels per day to 10.058 million barrels per day, citing a "source."
Oil prices temporarily ticked into the green after the news crossed the wires.
Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, was up by 0.2% at $56.56 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude oil, the US benchmark, gained 0.1% to $53.33 per barrel around 12:35 p.m. ET. But both benchmarks have retraced those gains and now hold little changed for the day around 12:40 p.m. ET.
OPEC and other major oil producers outside the cartel, including Russia, agreed to cut output in late November. The decision reverses a two-year strategy of pumping as much oil as desired and reflects producers' desire to end the global glut, which has kept prices depressed for the last few years.