Qatar Saudi Russia and Venezuela agree to freeze oil outpu

LONDON: Brent crude oil futures pared gains on Tuesday after Qatar’s energy minister said his country had agreed to freeze output at January’s levels, together with Saudi Arabia, Russia and Venezuela.Brent crude futures were last up 48 cents at $33.87 a barrel at 0907 GMT, having fallen back from a session high of $35.55 earlier.Qatari energy minister Mohammad bin Saleh al-Sada said the joint decision was contingent on other major producers following suit.”It’s really the first supply management decision taken since November 2014, so even though there will be some that will try to discount it and say it’s not a cut, it’s a change.It is a big change in policy,” Petromatrix strategist Olivier Jakob said.Oil prices have fallen by more than 70 percent in the past 20 months, driven down by near-record production both from OPEC and from non-members of the cartel, such as Russia.