WTI and Brent Crude Surge Over $50 a Barrel on Friday

Crude oil futures made an abrupt departure from losses, breaking the $50 a barrel benchmark and reaching their highest levels in a month, according to Bloomberg MarketWatch.

June West Texas Intermediate crude added 98 cents, or 2%, to settle at $50.33 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the highest in over one month. The June WTI contract expires at the end of Monday’s session. For the week, it ended roughly 5.2% higher.

On the London ICE Futures Exchange, July Brent crude, the global benchmark, gained $1.10, or 2.1%, to end trading at $53.61 a barrel. It also settled at a one-month high, up nearly 5.5% higher for the week.

On May 25, OPEC will discuss whether to extend the current production cut deal beyond the mid-2017 expiration and whether reductions should be increased. It is widely expected that an extension will be granted.

Back on the New York Mercantile Exchange, June natural gas climbed 2.3% to settle at $3.256 per million British thermal units. For the week, natural gas futures declined by nearly 4.9%.