Brent ended on a gain of 1.11% and passed the $49 mark. WTI rose to over $46 with an advance of 1.36%.

Oil prices ended at a nine-month high on Friday, buoyed by the agreement reached the day before by the main producing countries on a gradual increase in their production of black gold from January.

The barrel of North Sea Brent for delivery in February gained 1.11% or 54 cents from Thursday's close at $49.25.

In New York, the US barrel of WTI for the month of January appreciated by 1.36% or 62 cents to 46.26 dollars.

"Oil markets have reason to rejoice" at the opec+ deal, said Han Tan, an analyst at FXTM.

The group of thirteen members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) plus ten producing allies, identified by the acronym OPEC+, agreed thursday to "gradually return" to the market the approximately 2 million barrels per day (mbd) expected early next year, starting with 500,000 barrels a day in January, after four days of tough negotiations.

This decision increases the volume of crude oil voluntarily withdrawn from the market by the alliance from 7.7 mbd to 7.2 mbd on January 1, amending the previous agreement reached in April, which provided for a higher march with the withdrawal of 5.8 mbd, a level considered far too important in view of the weak global demand.

This agreement, "more digestible for the global economy, which is still trying to get back on its feet since the pandemic," Han Tan said, allows the two benchmark contracts to return to their pre-pandemic levels in early March.

At that time, an OPEC+ summit ended in a disagreement between the alliance's two heavyweights, Russia and Saudi Arabia, and a short but intense price war pushed Brent and WTI prices down.