Another signal from an OPEC producer sends crude prices skyrocketing on Friday. March West Texas Intermediate crude jumped $3.23 to end trade at $29.44 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. April Brent crude added $3.30 a barrel to settle at $33.36 a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
United Arab Emirates energy minister said members of OPEC were ready for talks on production cuts. While the news of a cut would be welcome, Saudi Arabia has a tendency to quash production cut talk.
The number of active oil rigs in the U.S. fell again last week. According to Baker Hughes the count fell by 28 rigs to 439.
March natural gas dropped 2.8 cents on Friday. The contract settled at $1.966 per million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
