© Reuters. Crude futures made a positive start to the week

Investing.com – Crude futures settled higher on Monday, after Opec producer Saudi Arabia pledged to lower crude exports in August while Nigeria agreed to curb production.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange for August delivery rose 1.3% to settle at $46.34 a barrel, while on London's Intercontinental Exchange, added 1.21% to trade at $48.64 a barrel.

At a gathering of ministers from major crude-producing nations in St. Petersburg, Russia on Monday, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said his country would limit crude oil exports at 6.6 million barrels per day (bpd) in August, almost 1 million bpd below levels a year ago.

The Saudi energy minster added that the production-cut agreement could be extended beyond March if necessary but any further extension would rely on non-compliant nations adhering to the agreement.

Also adding to positive sentiment on oil, were reports suggesting that Nigeria committed to take part in production if it reaches a production level of 1.8m bpd.

Nigeria output reached 1.7 million bpd in June, according to independent sources cited by OPEC in a monthly report.

Some analysts praised Nigeria decision to agree to cap production but expressed concerns about Opec’s compliance rate – with the deal to curb production – which fell to 78% June, the IEA said in its report earlier this month.

“The only significant thing about the meeting is that Nigeria has voluntarily agreed that they will not increase their production above 1.8 [million barrels a day] once they have achieved that level,” said Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at ThinkMarkets U.K.

But when it comes to the “compliance side of things,” that’s getting “really ugly,” he said. “A lot of cheating is already happening and we are only half [way] through this agreement,”

In May, Opec and non-Opec members agreed to extend production cuts of 1.8m bpd for a period of nine months until March but rising production from the U.S., Nigeria and Libya has undermined the cartel’s efforts to curb excess supply.