Oil prices rebound on inventory, production news

Oil prices have rebounded from historic lows this week as U.S. inventories dropped and global production leaders floated plans to freeze their output. 

The price of Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, topped $35 per barrel on Thursday morning, and U.S. crude prices were up nearly a dollar, above $31 per barrel.

{mosads}The price bumps coincide with an announcement from Saudi Arabia and Russia that they would freeze their oil production. 

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), of which Saudi Arabia is a member, has been unable to come to an agreement on freezing or cutting their production as a group, but other OPEC members met to discuss price strategies this week, Reuters reports. Iran, which is looking to reestablish its market share after international sanctions against the country have been lifted, has resisted calls for it to cut back its own oil output.

U.S. oil inventories have also fallen by about 3.3 million barrels, the American Petroleum Institute reported this week, another driver for the price jump.

Oil prices have plummeted from the $100 per barrel mark in 2014, hitting a 12-year low of around $30 per barrel earlier this year, a fall analysts attribute to large oil supplies worldwide and decreasing demand in growing economies.  

But U.S. crude prices have had a good week, jumping 14.4 percent between Monday and Wednesday, the biggest three-day gain in six months, S&P Dow Jones Indices reports.