The price of Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil prices, jumped above $52 a barrel on Thursday after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed to cut production by 1.2 million barrels . The move marks the group’s first concerted effort to slash output since 2008 and sent prices soaring by more than 10% overnight . On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in January traded at $49.73 a barrel at 0415 GMT, up $0.29 in the Globex electronic session. February Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange rose $0.36 to $52.20 a barrel, the highest level in more than a five weeks. The OPEC cut represents about 1% of global production , which will help to reduce a supply glut that has depressed prices for more than two years. The promised cuts include significant reductions by heavyweights including Saudi Arabia, the […]