The price for benchmark U.S. oil fell more than $1 US Tuesday in North American trading amid reports that Saudi crude production rose last month. Conversely, figures released Tuesday by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said Saudi production in February was down, dipping to 9.8 million barrels a daily. The deal to eliminate about 1.8 million barrels from daily production is to remain in effect until the middle of the year. While the agreement managed to help bump U.S. crude prices back up to almost $55 US a barrel at the time, it also enticed U.S. shale oil producers to boost their capacity. Reuters said U.S. shale oil producers were forecast to have added about 79,000 barrels of daily production in March, pushing total output to 4.87 million barrels daily.

Source: CBC News March 14, 2017 15:04 UTC