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by Stockwatch Business Reporter

West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery gained 10 cents to $57.40 on the New York Merc, while Brent for January gained 46 cents to $63.57 (all figures in this para U.S.). Western Canadian Select traded at a discount of $17.65 to WTI ($39.75), unchanged. Natural gas for January lost 15 cents to $3.03. The TSX energy index added 4.05 points to close at 190.20.

In a meeting today in Vienna, OPEC members, as well as non-members including Russia, agreed to extend their production-cutting pact by nine months to the end of 2018. The pact, which was set to expire at the end of March, involves cutting supply by about 1.8 million barrels a day to keep prices up. Russia was reportedly not keen to extend the pact by more than three months, partly because, with Brent above $60 (U.S.), shale oil producers in the United States might ramp up their production. (The U.S. is not a part of the pact.) OPEC promises to review the pact at its next regular meeting in June.

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