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This R&D provides resources on the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) planned production cuts.  After spending more than a year trying to keep prices low in an effort to hurt Western oil production, the oil cartel appears to be jettisoning that agenda and is moving to reduce production by 700,000 barrels a day.  The planned move caused U.S. crude oil prices to increase by 8%, although some analysts think that OPEC needs a larger production cut in order to generate more revenue for member states.  OPEC members such as Saudi Arabia and Venezuela have been devastated by low oil prices, which have strained government budgets.