Oil prices were on the rise in today’s sessions after this liquid gold experience sharp drop in the previous session. The rise was lifted by strong compliance with a touted international production cuts, although a surge in U.S. crude inventories continued to drag.
The Organization of the petroleum, exporting countries (OPEC) and other oil producing countries reached an agreement last year to cut down output by almost 1.8 million barrels per day in the first half of this year with its investors paying close attention to levels of compliance with the landmark deal.
The Kuwait’s oil minister stated that OPEC’s compliance with the agreed cuts had exceeded the expected targets and was standing at 140 percent in February.
The international Brent crude futures were up by 46 cents, or 0.87 percent and was seen being traded at $53.57 per barrel. They ended the last session down by 5 percent at $53.11 a barrel.
While the U.S. Benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained 34 cents or 0.68 percent to $50.62 per barrel. The WTI plummeted 5.38 percent to $50.28 per barrel in the previous trading session, marking its lowest since December.
The rise could be short lived stated by Michael McCarthy, the Chief market strategist at Sydney’s CMC markets, "One of the factors (pressuring prices) is the strengthening U.S. dollar on U.S. rate hike (expectations)," McCarthy said.