Mubasher: Oil prices climbed on Monday after Saudi Arabia named a long-time oil veteran Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman as its new energy minister, which is widely seen a move towards supportive an output-cutting agreement with major producers, according to Reuters.

By 9:57 am GMT, US Nymex crude futures jumped by 0.97% to $57.07 per barrel (pb), while global benchmark Brent futures climbed by 0.88% to $62.08 pb.

A long-time member of the Saudi delegation to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Prince Abdulaziz helped in negotiating the supply-cutting agreement currently in place.

The new Saudi minister said that the pillars of the world’s biggest oil exporter would not change, vowing to extend the deal agreed on by the producer group and other non-affiliated exporters, including Russia.

The so-called OPEC+ alliance has been withholding 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) from the market, since the start of this year.

Meanwhile, OPEC crude production grew in August, for the first time this year, as higher output from Iraq and Nigeria muted the impact of supply cuts by Saudi Arabia and shortages caused by US sanctions on Iran and Venezuela, according to a Reuters survey.

The UAE’s Energy Minister Suhail al-Mazrouei on Sunday announced that OPEC and non-OPEC producers were still “committed” to strike a balance in oil market.

Crude prices were also supported by a 3% month-on-month increase in oil imports of China, the world’s biggest consumer last August, and an around 10% leap in the first eight months compared with last year.