Investing.com - Crude oil prices settled higher on Thursday, notching a quarterly gain, as traders cheered data showing the first fall in U.S. oil rigs in three weeks, pointing to possible tightening in domestic output.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange crude futures for May delivery rose 0.87% cents to settle at $64.94 a barrel, while on London's Intercontinental Exchange, Brent gained 0.63% to trade at $69.19 a barrel. WTI crude ended the quarter up 7.5%.
The number of oil rigs operating in the US fell by six to 798,easing from three-year highs, according to data from energy services firm Baker Hughes.
That helped firm support for crude prices amid positive reports Wednesday suggesting that OPEC and Russia were working on a long-term pact to keep oil prices steady amid increasing competition from U.S. shale producers.
“We are looking for a very long-term cooperation between OPEC and non-OPEC producing countries,” OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo said on Wednesday.
In November last year, OPEC and other producers, including Russia agreed to cut output by about 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) to slash global inventories to the five year-average. But their efforts have been somewhat stifled by rising non-OPEC output, led by U.S.
Inventories of U.S. crude rose by 1.643 million barrels for the week ended March 23, confounding expectations for a decline of 287,000 barrels, according to data from the Energy Information Agency (EIA).
U.S. production, meanwhile, rose to record 10.43 million barrels a day, as the U.S. cemented its position as the world’s second largest oil producer, behind Russia but above Saudi Arabia.