Oil prices are climbing.
Prices for West Texas Intermediate crude, the US benchmark, were up by 3.1% to a 15-month high of $51.83 a barrel as of 10:54 a.m. ET. Prices for Brent crude, the international benchmark, were higher by 2.7% at $53.05 a barrel.
Data released by the Energy Information Administration on Wednesday showed that US crude-oil inventories unexpectedly dropped last month by 5.25 million barrels, compared with analysts’ expectations for a rise to 2.7 million barrels.
Moreover, Saudi Arabia’s energy minister, Khalid Al-Falih, previously said at the Oil & Money conference in London that many nations would join the OPEC cartel of oil producers in production cuts – though he did not name any. according to Bloomberg.
The Russian ruble, a petro-currency that has historically moved in conjunction with oil prices, is up by 0.9% at 62.2528 per dollar.
Oil has been trending up since OPEC's late-September agreement to a preliminary cap on production.
Prices for the commodity in early October climbed above $50 a barrel for the first time since June. WTI crude is up by over 20% since mid-September.
However, "more importantly, the fundamental story is becoming more nuanced," Marc Chandler, the global head of currency strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman, wrote in commentary on Monday. "First, there is a growing dispute within OPEC about the current level of output. Second, Russia may not be a reliable partner for OPEC ... Third, US producers are increasing their drilling operations."
