OPEC achieved the best compliance rate in its history at the outset of an accord to clear the oil glut, a plan that’s being supported by surprising strength in demand, the International Energy Agency said. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries implemented 90 percent of promised output cuts in January, the first month of its agreement, as key member Saudi Arabia reduced production by even more than it had committed, the agency said. Resilient oil demand is aiding OPEC’s bid to re-balance world markets, growing more than expected last year and poised to do so again in 2017. OPEC “appears to have made a solid start to what is a six-month process,” said the Paris-based IEA, which advises most of the world’s major economies on energy policy. “The first cut is certainly one of the deepest in the history of OPEC output cut initiatives.” OPEC and Russia are leading […]