Oil prices finished higher on Monday, adding to last week’s rally as traders welcomed data showing a weekly decline in the number of U.S. drilling rigs.
February West Texas Intermediate crude rose 29 cents, or 0.5%, to settle at $61.73 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
March Brent crude, the global benchmark, added 16 cents, or 0.2%, to end trading at $67.78 a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
Despite lower settlements on Friday, WTI and Brent still scored weekly gains of 1.7% and 1.1%, respectively, boosted by a seventh consecutive weekly drop in domestic crude supplies.
“Drillers are now coming under pressure to prioritize profit margins over supply growth,” said Stephen Brennock, oil analyst at PVM Oil Associates. “Accordingly, producers must balance higher production and shareholder returns which in turn may put the brakes on spending plans.”
Back on the New York Mercantile Exchange, February natural gas added 1.4% to settle at $2.835 per million British thermal units.
