Bolstered by Saudi Arabia’s eagerness to rebalance the market, oil futures snapped back from a recent slump on Friday by posting their best gains since April, according to Bloomberg MarketWatch.
September West Texas Intermediate crude rose $1, or 2.3%, to end trading at $44.49 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, representing its highest settlement since July 21. For the week, WTI increased by $2.69, or 6.4%, marking the best weekly gain for crude oil since the week ending April 8.
On London’s ICE Futures Exchange, October Brent crude, the global benchmark, tacked on 93 cents, or 2%, to settle at $46.97 a barrel, marking its highest finish since July 20. Brent gained 6.1% for the week—its best weekly gain since April 29.
“Crude-oil prices have stormed back to life over the past couple of weeks, albeit in a volatile manner,” said Fawad Razaqzada, chief technical analyst at Forex.com, in a note.
Much of the latest rebound is attributed to comments made by Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Kahlid al-Falih who indicated that OPEC “could participate in coordinated action to help balance the crude oil market.”
Last week, OPEC announced that 14 cartel members will hold an informal meeting at an energy conference next month in Algiers in an effort to strike a production cap agreement.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, September natural gas added 3.5 cents, or 1.4%, to settle at $2.5860 per million British thermal units, marking a drop of 6.7% for the week.