OIL UPDATE US oil prices hit highest since 2015

SINGAPORE: US oil prices hit their highest since 2015 again on Tuesday as speculators bet on further price rises amid Opec-led production cuts and a dip in American drilling activity.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $62.13 a barrel at 0123 GMT — 40 cents, or 0.65 per cent, above their last settlement.

They marked a May-2015 high of $62.56 a barrel in early trading.

Beyond that 2015-high, which was a short intraday spike, Tuesday’s peak was the highest level for WTI since December, 2014, at the start of the oil market slump.

Brent crude futures were at $68.12 a barrel, 34 cents, or 0.5 per cent, above their last close.

Brent touched $68.27 last week, its strongest since May, 2015.

Traders said prices were mainly being driven by speculative money being poured into crude futures on the notion of a tighter market following a year of production cuts led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and Russia, which are set to last through 2018.

“Speculators continued to increase their net long in ICE Brent. According to exchange data, speculators increased their position by 4,175 lots to leave them with a record net long of 565,459 lots,” ING bank said in a note.

A slight dip in the amount of rigs in the United States drilling for new oil was supporting WTI, traders said. — Reuters