On Thursday U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude did break below the much-anticipated $50 support , reaching new 13-month lows of $49.46 a barrel, But within hours it was back up on talk that the Russians might contribute after all to an oil production cut at the enlarged OPEC+ meeting on Dec. 6. Moscow had been dragging its feet for weeks earlier over Saudi urging that there must be output reductions to prop up the market.
Both WTI and Brent have lost about a third of their value in a little less than two months after President Donald Trump's tamer-than-expected sanctions against Iranian oil exports, which, along with record U.S., Saudi and Russian output, have flooded the market with supply.
Equally damaging to the psyche of the market have been tweets from the president that the Saudis should not cut output, a directive traders had expected Riyadh to comply with, given its potential exposure to U.S. sanctions after the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
TODAY
U.S. WTI jumped $1.51, or 3 %, at $51.89 per barrel . It sunk earlier to $49.46, the lowest since Oct 2017.
U.K. Brent, the global benchmark for oil, rallied $1.25, or 2.1%, to $60.34. Earlier in the session, it fell to $57.78, its lowest since July 2017.
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