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U.S. oil pushes back above $60 a barrel, posts strongest quarter in a decade
By: MarketWatch | March 29, 2019

WTI crude posts highest close since November

Oil posted strong gains Friday, shaking off a slump in the previous session attributed to a tweeted plea to OPEC for lower prices by President Donald Trump, as crude posted its strongest quarterly percentage rise in nearly a decade.

West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery CLK9, +1.55% on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 84 cents, or 1.4%, to end at $60.14 a barrel — the highest close since Nov. 9. Crude maintained gains after weekly data from oil-field services firm Baker Hughes showed the number of U.S. oil rigs fell by eight this week. The U.S. benchmark rose 32.4% over the first three months of 2019, its strongest quarterly advance since the second quarter of 2009.

The global benchmark, Brent crude, was also higher, with the most-active June contract LCOM9, +0.85% rising 48 cents, or 0.7%, to $67.58 a barrel on the ICE Europe exchange. Brent saw a roughly 25% quarterly rise, also its strongest since 2009. The May contract LCOK9, +0.84% which expired at Friday’s close, rose 57 cents, or 0.8%, to end at $68.39 a barrel.

“A presidential oil tweet isn’t quite what it used to be,” said Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at Price Futures Group, in a note.

Futures fell on Thursday but ended at the session’s lows as U.S. crude supplies unexpectedly rose and because global growth concerns fed uncertainty over energy demand. The U.S. president’s tweet earlier in that session, saying that crude prices were “getting too high,” initially sent futures sharply lower, but market participants said that traders may be getting inured to Trump’s repeated calls for oil producers to lift production curbs to lower crude costs.

Flynn said the prospect of tougher sanctions on Venezuela and growing pressure from within the Trump administration to put more pressure on Iran to get their oil exports to zero helped put oil back on an upward track. In addition, upbeat expectations around U.S.-China trade talks were also supportive, he said.

Prices have rallied year to date as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies have said they remain committed to a pledge to curb production by around 1.2 million barrels a day from October levels for the first half of this year to prop up markets.

“The bulls are still hanging on to their positive outlook, but after a choppy session there are now question marks over the longevity of the move higher,” said Richard Perry, analyst with Hantec Markets.

“After two sessions where the sellers have been prominent, but failed to grasp control, another negative session [Friday] would really ramp up the pressure,” he said. “However, taking a step back, the market has again held on to the $58.00 medium-term pivot support, whilst also forming an uptrend dating back to the December low. How the market breaks this mini consolidation between $58.00 and $60.40 on a closing basis will likely be directional.”

Among the products traded on Nymex, May gasoline RBK9, +1.00% rose 1.86 cents to end at $1.8842 a gallon, while May heating oil HOK9, +0.04% edged up to $1.9714 a gallon. May natural gas NGK19, -1.59% fell 1.8% to $2.662 per million British thermal units on its first full session as a front-month contract.

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