LONDON/United Kingdom: Oil prices have fallen back after earlier rising to its highest for the first time in two years. Rising demand and geo-political worries had fuelled the increase, along with indications that production cuts by OPEC members are starting to bite. At an OPEC meeting on Friday, several countries said the output curbs were having the desired impact on the market and price.
Meanwhile, OPEC, Russia and several other producers have cut production by about 1.8 million barrels per day (BPD) since the start of 2017, helping oil prices to rise by about 15% in the past three months. As well as increased demand, especially from China, Turkey’s threat to disrupt oil flows from Iraq’s Kurdistan region helped pushed prices up.
Brent rose about 4% to just short of $60, its highest since July 2015 before dropping back to $58.59. US West Texas crude went above $52 a barrel befor falling back to $51.87. The oil market has been in a downturn for almost three years, but the head of BP’s oil trading division in Asia, Janet Kong told a Financial Times Conference that the market was now “at a juncture.” (BBC NEWS)
