Crude Oil and Natural Gas Futures Jump on Tuesday

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Crude futures continued their end-of-year surge on Tuesday as trading resumed following the holiday, according to Bloomberg MarketWatch.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, February West Texas Intermediate crude oil advanced 88 cents, or 1.7%, to settle at $53.90 a barrel.

On the London ICE Futures Exchange, February Brent crude, the global benchmark, rose 93 cents, or 1.7%, to close at $56.09 a barrel.

In January, most OPEC members and 11 other non-cartel producers will curb production as part of a deal they made at the end of November. The reduction goal of roughly 1.8 million barrels will happen in phases.

Oil prices have enjoyed a steady rise throughout December and bullish analysts predict prices will breach the $60-a-barrel threshold in the first half of 2017.

Meanwhile, colder weather forced natural gas futures to its highest close in more than two years, with the January contract rising 9.9 cents, or 2.7%, to end trading at $3.761 per million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange.