Oil prices rose during Thursday’s trading, supported
by hopes of a possible truce between Saudi Arabia and Russia, following remarks
from U.S. President Donald Trump last night.
As of 08:00 GMT, Brent crude reached $27.02 a barrel,
while the highest level recorded during the session was at $27.87.noting that it
also fell earlier to $23.03, the lowest level since November 2002 earlier this
week.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures traded at
$22.20 per barrel, while the highest level recorded during the session was at
22.55.
The rise in oil prices came as result to investors
raised hopes of a truce between Russia and Saudi Arabia to correct the
situation associated with the oil market, which suffered a lot after the price
war between the two sides.
At his press conference last night, Trump said he
expects top oil producers to reach an agreement within the next few days to
regain price stability in the energy market.
"It's bad for Russia, bad
for Saudi Arabia. I mean, it's bad for both of them. I think it's time to make
the deal,” Trump mentioned.
Nearly a month ago, the Organization of Petroleum
Exporting Countries (OPEC), led by Saudi Arabia, and other crude producers, led
by Russia, failed to reach an agreement, pushing crude prices to their lowest
level in more than 17 years.
OPEC's oil production has also increased by 150,000
barrels per day (bpd) over the past month, according to a Bloomberg survey. Saudi
Arabia has already increased its oil output by several million barrels per day.
It should be noted that the US Energy Information
Administration (EIA) reported oil inventories rising by 13.8 million barrels
more than expected last week, while U.S. crude production has stabilized near a
record high.
Regarding Covid-19 latest updates, the number of
global infections has risen to more than 938,000 and more than 47,000 deaths.
Meanwhile, the dollar
index, which measures the performance of six major currencies against the US
dollar, rose 0.02 percent at 99.76.
