(Ecofin Agency) - Crude oil prices increased on Tuesday on hopes that an agreement between members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-OPEC members to cut production will ease the oversupply in the global market.

Benchmark North Sea Brent crude increased by 40 cents to $57.22 a barrel up from the 2016 high of $57.89, reached on December 12. U.S. light crude oil was also up by 40 cents at $54.12 a barrel.

The deal agreed by OPEC and other exporters such as Russia to reduce output by almost 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) officially began on Sunday January 1, 2017.

“Markets will be looking for anecdotal evidence for production cuts. The most likely scenario is OPEC and non-OPEC member countries will be committed to the deal, especially in early stages,” Ric Spooner, chief market analyst at CMC Markets said.

Libya, which is part of the countries exempted from the deal has increased its production to 685,000 bpd, from around 600,000 bpd in December.

Non-OPEC Middle Eastern oil producer Oman, last week said it would cut its crude oil term allocation volumes by 5% in March this year.

While Russia's oil production in December remained at 11.21 million bpd, but the country is getting ready to cut output by 300,000 bpd in H1 of 2017, as part of its contribution to the deal, Reuters reports.

Anita Fatunji