Saudi Pledge: Saudi Arabia Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih reportedly said in Riyadh that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, as well as Russia and other producers, will almost certainly extend a recent deal to cut production to reduce supply. “We think [Wednesday’s rise in oil prices] is largely due to a Saudi announcement that production cuts will get extended in April 2019,” said Stewart Glickman, energy equity analyst at CFRA Research in New York. “We also think that the positive move today could be short-covering after the substantial and sudden decline in crude over the last six weeks.” U.S. Inventories: The U.S. Energy Information Administration said Wednesday that U.S. oil inventories declined by 497,000 barrels last week, to 441.5 million barrels. That decrease was less than the 3.1-million-barrel decline analysts were expecting, but it nonetheless marked a third straight weekly decline. Additionally, inventories of distillates unexpectedly dropped […]