Oil prices rise, ending three-day skid

August 11, 2015 | 11:31

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Oil prices rallied on Monday, snapping a three-day losing streak as some analysts said the beaten-down commodity could be near a bottom.

A motorist filling up his vehicle at a petrol kiosk. (Photo: AFP/Federico Parra)

EW YORK: Oil prices rallied on Monday (Aug 10), snapping a three-day losing streak as some analysts said the beaten-down commodity could be near a bottom.

US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for delivery in September gained US$1.09 at US$44.96 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. European benchmark Brent oil for September delivery jumped US$1.80 to US$50.41 a barrel in London.

"People are basically looking for a bargain," said Michael Lynch, analyst at Strategic Energy & Economic Research. "There hasn't been a lot of hard news that would explain it, but we've had such a sharp decline in the last week or so, that people feel we're close to a bottom and it's time to buy in."

US oil prices have been on a generally downward path since early July, falling from about US$60 a barrel to the mid-US$40s on lofty production from the US and some key OPEC members, as well as an uncertain outlook for demand.

Citi Futures analyst Tim Evans said oil received a lift from Monday's nearly five percent rise in the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, as well as talk that the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries could hold an emergency meeting.

The OPEC chatter is "more of a recurring trial balloon," Evans said. "To date it has only tended to confirm that the Persian Gulf States including Saudi Arabia are not ready to consider a change of course."

AFP

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