Oil Jumps $2, Breaking Range As Supply Seen Ebbing

Reuters

NEW YORK, Oct 6 (Reuters) - Oil prices jumped more than $2 a barrel on Tuesday, breaking out of a month-long trading range on a mix of technical buying and industry talk as well as U.S. government data suggesting the global supply glut could be ebbing.

Global benchmark Brent crude rallied for a third straight day and settled above $50 a barrel for the first time in a month. This convinced some dealers that there was little chance prices would slide back to the 6-1/2-year lows touched in August.

Early gains were fueled by a U.S. government forecast for tighter oil supplies next year, and indications that Russia, Saudi Arabia and other big producers might pursue further talks to support the market. The rally accelerated above $50 on chart-based buying and a weakening dollar.

Brent settled up $2.67, or 5.4 percent, at $51.92 a barrel, breaking out of the $47 to $50 band it had traded since early September. Its session peak, a penny shy of $52, was the highest since Sept. 3, and took three-day gains to more than 7 percent.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the U.S. crude benchmark , settled up $2.27, or 4.9 percent, at $48.53.

"We have reduced the probability of a return to the $37 to $38 area per nearby WTI," said Jim Ritterbusch of oil consultancy Ritterbusch & Associates in Chicago. "We will maintain a longstanding view that price declines below this support level are virtually off of the table."

Chris Jarvis, analyst at Caprock Risk Management in Frederick, Maryland, concurred, saying: "Steeper U.S. production declines over the near term have created a bid for oil prices."


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Jeffrey Wilhelm  |  October 06, 2015
Some good news for change


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