Oil prices rise above $ 45 a barrel



24/06/2017 11:28 | Number of readings: 280


Trend Press / Agencies



Oil rose on Friday, offsetting some of its sharp losses earlier this week, but crude is still poised to record the biggest drop in the first half of any year in 20 years despite current production cuts.


Global Brent crude was $ 45.33 a barrel, up 11 cents, or 0.2 percent, from the previous close.

US WTI crude futures rose 9 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $ 42.83 a barrel.


Oil prices have fallen nearly 20 percent since the start of the year despite OPEC-led efforts to cut output by 1.8 million bpd since January.

This is the weakest performance of oil in the first half of any year since 1997, when increased production and the Asian financial crisis led to sharp declines in crude prices.


Prices have also been down about 15 percent since OPEC extended May 25 production cuts until the end of the first quarter of 2018, rather than ending the cut-off agreement at the end of the month.

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