An Aramco oil installation in the Saudi Arabian desert near Al Khurais. Opec has reduced output and complied significantly with targets, driving up price of crude. Marwan Naamani / AFP
An Aramco oil installation in the Saudi Arabian desert near Al Khurais. Opec has reduced output and complied significantly with targets, driving up price of crude. Marwan Naamani / AFP

Oil price surges to highest in more than two years



Oil rose to its highest since mid-2015 on Wednesday as data showed Opec has significantly improved compliance with its pledged supply cuts and Russia is also widely expected to keep to the deal.

Brent crude futures were up 59 cents at US$61.53 per barrel at 09.05 GMT, having hit a session peak of $61.70 earlier, the highest since July 2015.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was at $55.12 a barrel, up 74 cents.

The oil price gained 7 per cent in October, marking the fourth consecutive month of gains.

"The bulls have it and momentum is strong," said the Saxo Bank senior manager Ole Hansen.

"We know how oil can easily run ahead of what is fundamentally justified and we've seen that in both directions in the last couple of years," he said. "We really need to see demand growth pick up even more strongly than what is currently expected for the bullish outlook for to be maintained."

Optimism has been fuelled by an effort this year lead by Opec, Russia and other producers to hold back about 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) in oil production to tighten markets.

Opec's October output fell by 80,000 bpd to 32.78 million bpd, putting adherence to its pledged supply curbs at 92 per cent, up from September's 86 pe rcent.

___________

Read more:

BP first European oil major to resume share buybacks as profits surge

China's big oil firms post surging earnings

UAE petrol prices to be cheaper in November

___________

Analysts and traders expect Russia to stick to its agreement to curb its oil output by 300,000 bpd from 11.247 million bpd reached in October 2016.

Saudi Arabia and Russia are considering extending the agreement to potentially cover all of next year.

Should participants after that return to full capacity and US output also grow, a supply glut could return.

"We could rapidly ... go from a predicted deficit of around 260,000 barrels to a surplus of close to 1.5 million barrels. Prices would undoubtedly collapse," said Matt Stanley, a fuel broker at Freight Investor Services.

Another factor will be US output, which has risen by almost 13 per cent since mid-2016 to 9.5 million bpd.

"US crude oil production is 410,000 bpd below the April 2015 peak of 9.62 million bpd. We expect production to surpass this level before year-end," Barclays bank said.

How Filipinos in the UAE invest

A recent survey of 10,000 Filipino expatriates in the UAE found that 82 per cent have plans to invest, primarily in property. This is significantly higher than the 2014 poll showing only two out of 10 Filipinos planned to invest.

Fifty-five percent said they plan to invest in property, according to the poll conducted by the New Perspective Media Group, organiser of the Philippine Property and Investment Exhibition. Acquiring a franchised business or starting up a small business was preferred by 25 per cent and 15 per cent said they will invest in mutual funds. The rest said they are keen to invest in insurance (3 per cent) and gold (2 per cent).

Of the 5,500 respondents who preferred property as their primary investment, 54 per cent said they plan to make the purchase within the next year. Manila was the top location, preferred by 53 per cent.

DUBAI%20BLING%3A%20EPISODE%201
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECreator%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENetflix%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EKris%20Fade%2C%20Ebraheem%20Al%20Samadi%2C%20Zeina%20Khoury%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?

1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull

2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight

3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge

4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own

5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed


Energy This Week

Expert analysis on oil & gas renewables and clean energy

      By signing up, I agree to The National's privacy policy
      Energy This Week