Investing.com – Crude oil prices settled higher on Friday buoyed by growing expectations that Opec will agree to extend output cuts beyond March 2018 following bullish comments from Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange crude futures for December delivery rose by 2.4% to settle at $53.90 a barrel, while on London's Intercontinental Exchange, Brent added 1.75% to trade at $60.35 a barrel.
Crude oil prices settled at their highest since March as investors received the strongest signal yet that support for prolonged cuts is growing among Opec members after Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told Reuters on Thursday the kingdom would support extending output cuts in order to rid the market of excess supplies.
In May, Opec producers agreed to extend production cuts for a period of nine months until March, but stuck to production cuts of 1.2 million bpd agreed in November last year.
The comments, weeks after Russia President Vladimir Putin said he supported the idea of extending the output-cut agreement through 2018, eased concerns over a potential uptick in global output after Iraq and Peshmerga Kurdish forces agreed to a ceasefire, reducing the possibility of supply disruptions.
In the U.S., meanwhile, investors mulled over data showing the number of oil rigs rose, snapping a three consecutive weeks of declines.
Oilfield services firm Baker Hughes said Friday its weekly count of oil rigs operating in the United States rose by 1 to 737.
The weekly rig count is an important barometer for the drilling industry and serves as a proxy for oil production and oil services demand.