Brent gained $3, ending three weeks of bearishness as Saudi Arabia and Russia, leaders of a global alliance to balance oil markets, vowed to keep cuts in place for the second half of the year.
Brent futures were trading at $63.19 per barrel at 2:47pm UAE time following comments by Saudi energy minister Khalid Al Falih that he was sure output curbs will see a rollover after the alliance’s meeting later this month in Vienna.
Rig counts in the US, an indicator of upstream investment activity, also fell to their lowest since February, pushing the West Texas Intermediate to above $54 per barrel.
Last week, Brent plunged to a record low, registering a nearly 16 per cent decline over the last three weeks, its worst performance since January.
The dramatic decline in oil prices, caused by rising US stockpiles, lukewarm demand growth as well as fears of a US recession had raised the possibility of Opec+ agreeing to an extension well into the second half of the year.
The alliance of 24 producers has been undertaking a cut of 1.2 million barrels per day since the beginning of January.
On Friday at an economic forum in the Russian capital of Moscow Mr Al Falih said a rollover of cuts “was almost in the bag”. He dismissed calls to deepen the ongoing production restrictions.
"I don't think there will be a need to deepen the cut. I'm hoping it will be an easy decision and that we'll roll over, but if it's not, we will be flexible in terms of our position in the kingdom," he said.
