Strong Friday Finish as Brent Crude Settles Above $60, WTI Nears $54 a Barrel

Oil prices rallied on Friday, lifting the WTI settlement near $54 as Brent crude finished above $60 a barrel for the first time in more than two years, according to Bloomberg MarketWatch.

December Brent crude, the global benchmark rose $1.14, or 1.9%, to settle at $60.44 a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange, marking the highest settlement for a front-month contract since July 2015. The contract rose about 4.7% for the week.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, December West Texas Intermediate crude tacked on $1.26, or 2.4%, to finish at $53.90 a barrel, marking a nearly eight-month high. For the week, it gained around 4%.

OPEC members will hold an official meeting in Vienna on November 30.

“If OPEC and its allies agree to expand the scope of production cuts, there will be a shift towards insufficient supply by 2019,” said Adrienne Murphy, chief market analyst at AvaTrade.

But “markets are worried that shale producers will increase output at the $60 mark, derailing efforts made by OPEC and Russia,” she said. “When oil approaches $60, traders become unnerved and start to selloff to avoid the slump.”

Meanwhile, November natural gas which expired at the day’s settlement, dropped 4.8% to end at $2.752 per million British thermal units—its lowest since late February. It fell 5.6% for the week. December natural gas fell 2.9% for the day to end at $2.964 per million British thermal units.