Oil futures settled above $46 a barrel Thursday, as seven straight weeks of declines in U.S. crude production as well as weakness in the dollar helped lift prices to their best level in nearly six months, according to Bloomberg MarketWatch.
Some analysts questioned whether crude will continue its positive momentum given a lack of significant change on the supply side of the market.
Meanwhile, natural gas prices finished at their lowest level in a week as a report showed that U.S. supplies rose a bit more than the market expected.
June West Texas Intermediate crude added 70 cents, or 1.5%, to settle at $46.03 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, with prices scoring the highest settlement since Nov. 4.
June Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures Exchange, which expires Friday, added 96 cents, or 2%, to $48.14 a barrel.
Data released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration on Wednesday showed a 15,000 barrel-per-day decline in domestic crude production to 8.938 million barrels a day. It was down for the seventh consecutive week, but crude supplies were also up by 2 million barrels, which was a bit more than expected and marked a third weekly climb.
Meanwhile, natural gas futures marked a third straight losing session. June natural gas ended at a one-week low of $2.078 per million British thermal units, down 7.5 cents, or 3.5%. U.S. government data Thursday revealed that supplies of the commodity rose 73 billion cubic feet for the week ended April 22. Analysts polled by Platts forecast a climb of 70 billion.