Oil futures trades slightly higher Tuesday, a day after Brent crude, the global benchmark, traded above $ 60 per barrel for the first time in more than a year.
U.S. Standard, Texas West Intermediate crude for March CL.1 delivery,
CLH21,
went up 6 cents, or 0.1%, at $ 58.04 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. April Brent crude BRN00,
BRNJ21,
it went up 16 cents or 0.3%, at $ 60.72 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.
Oil rallied on Monday as rations continued to rise, helping lift U.S. benchmarks to another round of full-time highs. Broad market optimism remains fixed to expectations for another major round of government aid spending from President Joe Biden’s $ 1.9 trillion proposal, as well as progress in worldwide vaccine distribution.
At the same time, Saudi Arabia ‘s decision to cut production unilaterally by 1 million barrels per day in February and March is seen as helping to monitor supply, analysts said.
COVID-19-related industry restrictions are likely to remain a threat, however, until a clear rise in global vaccination levels, Warren Patterson, head of product strategy at ING, said in a note.
Also, price levels have skyrocketed to levels that look more attractive to producers, which could lead to a rise in output that should slightly resist prices, Patterson said, noting that the U.S. has seen a steady increase in the shale oil rig account. from the end of November.