Brent crude (OIL) futures increased to just under $50 a barrel on Friday as main producers agreed on a compromise to raise output slightly from January but continue to bulk of existing supply curbs to cope with coronavirus-hit demand. Brent was up 53 cents at $49.24 a barrel by 1034 GMT after hitting its highest since the beginning of March at $49.92. West Texas Intermediate increased 47 cents to $46.11 a barrel. Both benchmarks are set for a fifth consecutive week of gains.OPEC and Russia on Thursday agreed to ease deep oil output cuts from January by 500,000 barrels per day with further as yet undefined gains on a monthly basis, failing to reach a compromise on a wider policy for the rest of 2021.OPEC+ had been expected to continue existing cuts until at least March, after backing down from plans to increase output by 2 million bpd.