U.S. oil futures held above $50 per barrel on Friday as the entire crude forward curve pushed above that level in a sign that financial markets have increasing confidence in the sector, according to Reuters.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures CLc1 settled at $50.44 per barrel on Thursday – the first settlement above $50 since June 24 – and were up 6 cents on Friday at $50.50 per barrel at 0542 GMT, Reuters wrote.
Brent futures LCOc1 already moved over $50 at the start of this week, and were trading at $52.57 per barrel at 0542 GMT on Friday, also up 6 cents.
With both front-month contracts above $50 per barrel and each forward curve in contango, in which contracts for future delivery are more expensive than those for immediate sale, the entire crude futures complex has moved back over $50 per barrel.
”There is still no end in sight for the current bullish run. Speculators have been buying every short-term dip, a strategy that has evidently been working very well so far,” said Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at futures brokerage Forex.com, according to the report.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries plans to agree on a coordinated production cut when it next meets in late November, in a bid to rein in a global fuel supply overhang that has dogged prices for the last two years.
Despite the increasing confidence by financial oil traders in higher prices, the physical market remains relatively weak, Reuters wrote.
