Oil jumps 10 pct after Reuters exclusive on Saudi output cuts

Oil prices surged 10 percent on Nov. 4 after Reuters exclusively reported that Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, had quietly cut supplies to some of its biggest customers to deliver on its promise to cut output at an October OPEC meeting. Thorough reporting over several days from carefully cultivated sources delivered the news after OPEC’s Oct. 24 agreement. Traders place high value on information about the implementation of OPEC supply curbs from individual member countries because producers sometimes fail to deliver on cuts. Details are commercially sensitive and often not announced publicly. The Saudi news quelled growing doubts over whether OPEC’s most influential member would implement the deal. Fellow OPEC members such as the UAE, Kuwait and Nigeria had informed their buyers of an immediate reduction. Dow Jones and Bloomberg both cited the Reuters story as a factor contributing to a more than $6 in surge oil prices to above $70 a barrel. The Saudi scoop underlined Reuters dominance on the OPEC story. On Oct 31 we beat Dow Jones by more than 90 minutes in reporting that Kuwait had told Japanese refiners it was cutting supply. When OPEC announced the deal on Oct. 24 we were 10 minutes ahead of the competition to report the news from inside sources at the meeting.