Oil Futures End Higher as April Contracts Expire

Oil futures finished higher on Monday, recouping much of the losses seen at the end of last week, as traders weighed the likelihood of a slowdown in production and took their positions for the expiration of the April contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude.

WTI crude futures for April delivery climbed by 47 cents, or 1.2%, to settle at $39.91 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after trading as low as $38.61 and as high as $40.30. The contract expired at Monday’s settlement. Contract expirations tend to add to market volatility. May crude rose 38 cents, or 0.9%, to $41.52 a barrel.

Prices had been fluctuating between losses and gains before getting a more solid boost after data from market intelligence firm Genscape reportedly showed that stockpiles at the Cushing, Oklahoma crude storage hub fell by 570,574 barrels last week.

May Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange ended at $41.54 a barrel, up 34 cents, or 0.8%.

April natural gas settled at $1.828 per million British thermal units, down 7.9 cents, or 4.1%.