OPEC, ALLIES EXTEND OIL OUTPUT CUTS THROUGH 2018

OPEC oil ministers and their non-OPEC partners have agreed to extend crude output cuts until the end of next year in efforts to keep supplies tight and bolster prices. Benchmark crude prices are now close to $60 a barrel, up almost 20% from a year ago, when the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their nonOPEC partners agreed to reduce supply by 1.8 million barrels daily.