Oil inches higher on cut pledges

london/new york — Oil prices rose in light volumes on Friday, steadying near their highest levels since 2015 on pledges from Opec leader Saudi Arabia and non-Opec Russia that any exit from crude output cuts would be gradual.

Brent crude futures, the international benchmark for oil prices, ended the session up 35¢ at $65.25 a barrel, its highest close since June 2015.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures settled 11¢ higher at $58.47 a barrel. WTI has also been touching values not seen since mid-2015 over the past two months.

Both contracts settled one hour early due to the upcoming Christmas holiday. Market liquidity was also drying up on Friday as traders closed positions ahead of the Christmas and New Year breaks.

About 280,000 front-month US crude futures changed hands while front-month Brent crude futures saw the lowest trade volumes in about seven months, excluding expiration days.

“I think the market is looking balanced overall but think the risk remains to the upside in Brent spreads due to continued price appreciation,” said Scott Shelton, a broker at ICAP in Durham, North Carolina. “Traders who are flat and waiting for a dip will come in on the first trading day of the month in January in 2018 with a fresh P&L wondering if $60 WTI and $66 Brent are buys or not.” Meanwhile, the number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the US rose by one last week to 931. That exceeds the 653 rigs that were active this time a year ago.

Houston oilfield services company Baker Hughes reported that 747 rigs were drilling for oil and 184 for natural gas last week.

Among oil- and gas-producing states, New Mexico gained four rigs, and North Dakota added one. Texas and Wyoming each lost two rigs, and Oklahoma lost one.

Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Kansas, Louisiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Utah and West Virginia were unchanged. — Reuters/AP