Brent Crude Oil Rises to $61 Per Barrel

Brent crude oil rose above $61 a barrel on Tuesday following series of adjustments made by the OPEC and Non-OPEC members at ensuring price stability.

Brent, against which half of the world’s oil is priced, surged to $61.32 a barrel by 8:00pm, gaining about 37 percent from its 2017 lows in June.

The United States West Texas Intermediate crude was seven cents or 0.1 percent higher at $54.21, still near its highest since February and close to its highest for more than two years.

Traders and brokers said investors were adjusting positions after price rises of around five percent in October.

The US crude exports have jumped close to two million bpd and production has risen almost 13 percent since mid-2016 to 9.5 million bpd.

“The problem is as soon as prices move up it’s too easy for the US producers to add another rig or another completion crew,” said Stewart Glickman, energy equity analyst at CFRA Research in New York, “Then they increase production and you’re back where you started.”

Six analysts polled by Reuters ahead of inventory reports estimated, on average, that crude stocks were forecast to have fallen by 2.6 million barrels in the week ended October 27.

Iraq’s move to increase oil exports from its southern ports by 220,000 bpd to 3.45 million bpd to make up for supply disruptions from its northern Kirkuk fields also weighed on prices, traders said.