Oil prices jumped on Monday, February 27, as investors showed record confidence in prices rising further, though gains were capped by the prospect of faster growth in U.S. oil production.
Brent crude oil rose 58 cents to $56.57 a barrel by 1433 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate added 47 cents to $54.46.
Investors raised their bets on rising Brent crude oil prices to a new high last week, data from the InterContinental Exchange showed on Monday, breaking the 500,000-lot mark for the first time on record.
Money managers also raised their bullish U.S. crude futures and options positions in the week to Feb. 21 to the highest on record, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said on Friday.
Investors now hold 951,312 lots’ worth of U.S. and Brent crude futures and options, equivalent to nearly 1 billion barrels of oil and valued at more than $52 billion, based on current Brent and WTI benchmark prices.
“With speculators increasing their bullish bets on U.S. crude to an all-time high, the risk of disappointment and subsequent downward spiral in prices has never been greater,” oil brokerage PVM’s Stephen Brennock said.
Among the risks is the level of compliance to the deal between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other producers to bring down oil output by about 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd).
OPEC’s record compliance with the deal has surprised the market, and the biggest laggards, the United Arab Emirates and Iraq, have pledged to catch up with their targets.
The International Energy Agency put OPEC’s average compliance at a record 90 percent in January. Based on a Reuters average of production surveys, compliance stands at 88 percent.
A Reuters survey of OPEC production later this week will show compliance for February.
Looming over the success of the deal is the reaction of U.S. shale producers to rising prices and their ability to increase output.
U.S. drillers added five oil rigs in the week to Feb. 24 to 602, the most since October 2015, energy services firm Baker Hughes Inc said on Friday.
