Investing.com - Crude prices jumped on Friday as oil was set for its biggest quarterly rise since 2009 amid supply cuts and U.S. sanctions on Iran and Venezuela.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for May gained 2.6% to $60.65 a barrel as of 9:10 AM ET (13:10 GMT). Brent crude futures, the benchmark for oil prices outside the U.S., rose 1.4% to $68.05 a barrel.
Supply cuts lead by OPEC and Russia, known as OPEC+, have helped increase prices, but the organization decides in June if it will continue withholding supply or not.
De-facto leader Saudi Arabia wants to cut supplies, while Russia is less in favor of holding out on supplies past September.
A report from Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) found that oil drillers in the U.S. have under-hedged their production, which could help support Saudi Arabia’s narrative.
“In the immediate outlook for the next quarter or two, assertions of a less-hedged U.S. shale industry, followed by prognosis of lower production in 2019/20, couldn’t be sweeter for OPEC,” Investing.com analyst Barani Krishnan said.
U.S. sanctions on Iran and Venezuela, both oil exporters, have also helped drive the price in oil.
Meanwhile, investors are looking ahead to weekly rig count data from Baker Hughes, which is considered a leading indicator of demand for oil products.
In other energy trading, gasoline futures rose 1.8% to $1.8979 a gallon, while heating oil jumped 1.4% to $1.9993 a gallon. Natural gas futures slumped 0.6% to $2.695 per million British thermal units.