The Brent oil futures price on the London exchange ICE has surpassed $60 per barrel. The last time the price of a barrel of Brent surpassed $60 each was on January 29, 2020.
Meanwhile, WTI crude oil futures for March delivery have added 1.18% to $57.52.
Oil prices are rising driven by the OPEC+ committee's statements on maintaining the policy of production restraint as well as hopes for an increase in demand for raw materials in the US as the country's economy recovers, Maxim Timoshenko, head of the financial markets department at Russian Standard Bank, said. The OPEC's forecast that the oil market will remain tight throughout 2021 has added something positive to the market. Andrei Kochetkov, senior global research analyst at Otkritie Broker, said:
"Vaccination around the world continues and could accelerate in the context of new drug registration. OPEC+ is showing great discipline in meeting its obligations under the production cuts agreement. Saudi Arabia has further reduced production by 1 million barrels since February 1. In the US, oil reserves have declined and are already only 4% higher than the five-year average."
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According to Kochetkov, US president Joe Biden's economic stimulus plan will help boost oil prices. This is a $1.9T "bailout" program for the US economy that was approved by the Senate last week.