Oil prices continued to rise on Monday as the global crude benchmark extended its surge above $60 a barrel to reach heights not seen in more than two years while the U.S. benchmark ended at an eight-month high, according to Bloomberg MarketWatch.
December Brent crude, the global benchmark, rose 46 cents, or 0.8%, to settle at $60.90 a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange. The December contract, which expires at Tuesday’s settlement, rose about 4.7% last week.
December West Texas Intermediate crude gained 25 cents, or 0.5%, to end trading at $54.15 a barrel. Prices saw their highest finish since February 23, after gaining around 4% last week.
“Current price levels could translate to some additional production strength moving into 2018 as U.S. shale will look to respond, with early signs of a boost coming in the form of last week’s rig count, where oil rigs saw a net gain,” said Robbie Fraser, commodity analyst at Schneider Electric.
“While a single data point hardly represents a trend, it does raise the importance of keeping a close eye on production indicators over the weeks ahead as the market questions how high prices can rise before additional barrels start to hit the market,” said Fraser, in a daily note.
Back on the New York Mercantile Exchange, December natural gas tacked on less than 0.1% to settle at $2.966 per million British thermal units.
