Brent and US crude: Oil prices rise above $30 per barrel on hopes of deal to ease supply glut
Oil prices rose above $30 per barrel today, on hopes the world's oil producing nations could reach deal to tackle the global supply glut.
Brent crude, the global benchmark, rose five per cent to as much as $32.24 per barrel this afternoon while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude, the US benchmark, ticked up to $31.89.
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) is making renewed calls for rival producers to cut supply alongside its members, but Russia, seen as key to any deal, has so far refused to cooperate.
Iraq's oil minister said today he saw some flexibility for a deal between Opec and non-Opec producers.
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Oil prices reversed earlier losses which stemmed from Iraq's output hitting a record last month. A senior Iraqi official added that Iraq may raise output further this year.
The chairman of Saudi Aramco, the world's biggest oil company, also said it's continuing to invest in oil and gas production capacity, despite cost-cutting because of low oil prices.
Demand concerns had also weighed, with China's rail freight volume, a key economic indicator, dropping 11.9 per cent in 2015 from a year ago, compared with a decline of 3.9 per cent in 2014.
Crude oil prices have fallen more than 75 per cent from their 2012 peak.