RIYADH: Oil prices rose on Thursday but could not claw back the more than 9 percent decline seen during the previous three days as demand concerns in major consumers overrode signals the US may pause its interest rate increases. Brent futures rose $0.89, or 1.23 percent, to $73.22 a barrel at 12:10 p.m. Saudi time. Since Friday, however, Brent has dropped more than 9 percent and fell to as low as $71.28 earlier on Thursday. US West Texas Intermediate crude also rose $0.67, or 0.98 percent, to $69.27 a barrel. Russia sticks to its oil output cuts: Deputy PM Novak On Thursday, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said his country was abiding by its voluntary pledge to cut oil output by 500,000 barrels per day from February until the end of the year. Russia is part of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, known as OPEC+, which announced a combined reduction of more than 1 million bpd in April. “Taking into account the unfounded speculation in the press regarding oil production levels, Russia reaffirms its full commitment to and implementation of voluntary oil production cut levels,” Novak said in a statement. “The target level of voluntary production cuts is 500,000 bpd from the February level until the end of 2023. Monitoring will be carried out according to independent sources.” He also said a two-thirds reduction in Russia’s oil pipeline exports to the EU was only partially compensated by seaborne exports. Shell posts $10bn profit in Q1 Shell has posted a first-quarter net profit of $9.65 billion, topping analysts’ forecasts, as strong earnings from fuel trading and higher liquefied natural gas sales offset cooling energy prices. The stronger-than-expected profits followed a string of forecast-beating results from rivals, including BP and ExxonMobil, as the sector continues to benefit from strong demand and price volatility. Lower natural gas prices in the quarter weighed on Shell’s giant integrated gas business, with profits slumping 18 percent to $4.9 billion. This was broadly offset by a 139 percent jump in profits to $1.8 billion in its chemicals and refined products unit. Shell kept its dividend unchanged at $0.2875 per share and also kept the rate of its share repurchase program stable at $4 billion over the next three months, even as its cash generation fell in the quarter. It bought back $19 billion in shares in the year to February 2023, nearly double the total in pre-pandemic 2019. “In Q1, Shell delivered strong results and robust operational performance against a backdrop of ongoing volatility,” CEO Wael Sawan said in a statement. (With input from Reuters)