A gas flame is seen in the desert near the Khurais oilfield, Saudi Arabia June 23, 2008. Oil prices were steady on Friday, holding around 2-percent gains from the previous session on optimism that non-OPEC producers might agree to cut output following a cartel agreement to limit production. Brent and U.S. benchmarks climbed on Thursday after the former secretary general of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries made comments supportive of non-member production cuts. Russia has so far said it would cut 300,000 barrels per day, meaning other non-OPEC producers combined would need to pledge the same amount to lower output by the 600,000 bpd OPEC wants – half the reduction OPEC is making. “An agreement by non-OPEC members to cut production is achievable, given support from Russia and a number of countries facing structural output declines,” BMI Research said in a note. “However, the pace of these […]