oil rig
© David Mdzinarishvili / Reuters
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has reached a deal to limit oil production, media reports stated, citing sources in the organization. Production is to be limited to 32.5mn barrels per day, and the deal is expected to come into force in November.

The cartel currently produces 33.24 million barrels per day, which means that if the reports prove true, OPEC countries will cut production by almost 700 thousand barrels. It will be the first reduction in eight years.

One source claims that OPEC will settle production levels for each member country at the next formal meeting, set to be held in Vienna on November 30.

One of the sources also told Reuters that after reaching the target production rate, OPEC will turn to non-OPEC producers for output support. Representatives of the OPEC countries are currently in Algeria attending the International Energy Forum.

The agreement to cut production among the world's largest oil producers could lead to oil supply coming more in line with the demand for the energy source.

Following the reports of OPEC's decision, the price for futures for Brent crude oil has gone up by nearly 6 percent, to $48.72 per barrel on the ICE stock exchange in London by 6:28 pm GMT.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil also rose by 5.4 percent, to $47.02.

US energy stocks have also jumped, with the energy sector gaining 3.9 percent, the most among the S&P 500 11 sectors. The benchmark index is up eight points (0.39 percent), the Dow is up 89 points (0.48 percent), and the Nasdaq is up six points (0.13 percent) as of 6:28pm GMT.

Meanwhile the euro exchange rate against the Russian ruble on the Moscow stock exchange fell by 89 cents compared with the level it had at the closing of the previous trading session and reached 70.74 rubles per one euro.

The Russian ruble also rose in price against the US dollar by 1 percent, or 79 cents.

Last week Iran, OPEC's third-largest producer with a daily output of 3.6 million barrels in August, declined a suggestion from Saudi Arabia that it freezes production at January levels if Tehran agrees to do the same. Tehran said it will continue increasing oil output until it produces four million barrels a day.

On Tuesday, however, Saudi Oil Minister Khalid Al-Falih signaled that it may accept the idea that Iran maintains its output at maximum levels but said it doesn't expect an agreement to be reached this week, stating that a deal in November is possible.

Meanwhile, negotiations between OPEC representatives that lasted some four hours have ended. The results are expected to be revealed at the upcoming press-conference.