Oil prices, on Thursday, December 22, flipped to small gains at the start of traditional trading hours in the U.S., where traders are still feeling bullish about recent changes in the oil market.
Brent, the global benchmark, rose 68 cents, or 1.3%, to $55.14 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe. Light, sweet crude for February delivery recently gained 63 cents, or 1.2%, to $53.12 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Crude Prices have recorded modest gain at different points, since the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other global exporters agreed in November to cut output.
OPEC had agreed last month to cut output by 1.2 million barrels a day, equivalent to around 1% of global supply. A group of big oil producers outside the cartel, including Russia, agreed to join them and scale back their output by another 558,000 barrels a day.
That has kept oil above $50 a barrel for more days this month than any other since July 2015, but many investors also have been skeptical of OPEC. Its spotty record for adhering to production quotas is casting doubt over whether the cuts will fully materialize after they are supposed to start in January.
The number of rigs for U.S. production has been rising steadily since the summer, although the lag between the time it takes to drill a well to seeing full production means that this additional volume has yet to reach the market.
Gasoline futures recently lost 0.1% to $1.6033 a gallon. Diesel futures gained 1.5% to $1.6653 a gallon.
