The daily business briefing: December 12, 2016

Oil prices soar after producers agree to cuts, Boeing seals deal to sell jets to Iran, and more

A model of a Boeing plane
(Image credit: Yuli Seperi/Getty Images)

1. Crude prices jump as producers agree to cut output

Oil prices surged to an 18-month high on Monday after leading oil producers agreed to follow the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' lead and cut production to ease a global glut that has dragged down prices. Not only did key non-OPEC countries, including Russia, agree to the cuts, but leading producer Saudi Arabia suggested it might slash output more than it promised last week. OPEC's deal calls for reducing output by about 3 percent. Europe's benchmark Brent crude futures jumped by more than 5 percent, passing $57 a barrel for the first time since July 2015. The U.S. benchmark, West Texas Intermediate, rose above $54 a barrel.

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Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.