Oil has tumbled after Saudi Arabia says it increased production.
West Texas Intermediate crude, the US benchmark, was down by 2.3% at $47.30 a barrel as of 9:59 a.m. ET. That is its lowest level since late November.
Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, was down by 1.7% at $50.48 a barrel as of 10:02 a.m. ET. That too was a low since late November.
Oil's tumble follows the release of a monthly report by OPEC showing that Saudi Arabia increased production in February back above the level of 10 million barrels a day (to 10.011 million), according to figures submitted by the kingdom. We first spotted this via a tweet from Bloomberg's Javier Blas.
Back on November 30, when the OPEC cartel of oil producers collectively agreed to cut production, the Saudis agreed to cut to 10.058 million barrels a day. The latest increase therefore still keeps production below the agreed-upon number.