Oil Rises as Prospects for Deeper OPEC Cuts Take Center Stage
Oil capped a second monthly gain in November on signs Beijing and Washington are close to an initial trade deal
(Bloomberg) -- Oil rose the most in more than a week as traders sifted for fresh signals of whether OPEC and allied crude producers will tighten supplies when they meet later this week.
Futures settled 1.4% higher in New York on Monday. Iraq has been hinting that the so-called OPEC+ group may shrink output again, contradicting other cartel members insisting deeper cuts are not in the cards. Money managers boosted bets on a price rally to the highest in six months.
“The OPEC comments are unique to oil and keeping the market in the green,” said Robert Yawger, futures director at Mizuho Securities USA LLC in New York.
Hedge funds increased their net-bullish position on the U.S. benchmark crude, or the difference between bullish and bearish bets, by 15% to 103,790 contracts, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission said on Monday.
Long-only wagers rose 12%, while shorts dropped 14%. The report was delayed from its usual Friday release because of the Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S.
Earlier in Monday’s session, futures surrendered some gains in response to a surprise decline in U.S. construction spending and a fourth straight monthly contraction in American manufacturing activity.
Adding to the gloomy data was a report that U.S. President Donald Trump was ready to hit China with stiffer tariffs if efforts toward a trade truce between the world’s two largest economies falter. Crude still hasn’t recovered from Friday’s 5.1% slump that was the worst in 2 1/2 months.
West Texas Intermediate for January delivery settled up 79 cents to $55.96 a barrel the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Brent for February settlement rose 43 cents to $60.92 on London’s ICE Futures Europe Exchange, and traded at a $5.01 premium to WTI for the same month.
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To contact the reporters on this story: Sheela Tobben in New York at vtobben@bloomberg.net;Carlos Caminada in Calgary at ccaminada1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Marino at dmarino4@bloomberg.net, Joe Carroll, Carlos Caminada
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