Investing.com - Oil prices on Friday tallied a gain for the week, month and quarter, boosted by optimism that the crude market was well on its way towards rebalancing.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures tacked on 11 cents, or around 0.2%, to end at $51.67 a barrel by close of trade. It reached its best level since April 19 at $52.86 on Thursday.
For the week, WTI prices gained around 2% to notch their fourth-straight weekly climb. It ended September with an increase of roughly 9.5% and saw quarterly rise of about 12%.
Meanwhile, Brent crude futures, the benchmark for oil prices outside the U.S., shed 37 cents, or roughly 0.7%, to settle at $56.79 a barrel. The contract had reached its highest in more than two years earlier in the week.
The global benchmark closed the week with a gain of 1.2%, its fifth-consecutive weekly climb. Brent futures scored a nearly 10% gain for September and ended the quarter up roughly 19%.
Prices have gained more than 20% from their June lows, meeting the definition of a bull market, as data showed strong compliance from major producers with their supply cut agreement and a plethora of energy agencies suggested global demand is increasing.
In May, OPEC and non-OPEC members led by Russia agreed to extend production cuts of 1.8 million barrels per day for a period of nine months until March 2018 in a bid to reduce global oil inventories and support oil prices.
Mounting fears over the potential fallout from the independence referendum in the oil-rich Kurdish region of Iraq provided further support.
Kurdish voters overwhelmingly cast their ballot in favor of independence from Iraq earlier in the week. The vote result may trigger a hostile response from Iraq’s central government, as well as from neighboring countries Turkey and Iran, and disrupt the flow of as much as 500,000 barrels a day of Kurdish oil exported through a Turkish port.
Oil price gains this month have also been supported by anticipated renewed demand from U.S. refiners that were resuming operations after shutdowns due to Hurricane Harvey.
Elsewhere, gasoline futures declined 2.3 cents, or 1.5%, to end at $1.591 on Friday. It closed down around 3.7% for the week, but still ended the quarter up about 14%.
Heating oil slumped 1.4 cents, or 0.8%, at $1.810 a gallon, ending roughly 0.3% lower for the week.
Natural gas futures lost 1.0 cent, or 0.3%, to settle at $3.007 per million British thermal units. It saw a weekly gain of nearly 1.6%.
In the week ahead, market participants will eye fresh weekly information on U.S. stockpiles of crude and refined products on Tuesday and Wednesday to further weigh what the impact of recent storm activity was on supply and demand.
Ahead of the coming week, Investing.com has compiled a list of these and other significant events likely to affect the markets.
Tuesday, October 3
The American Petroleum Institute, an industry group, is to publish its weekly report on U.S. oil supplies.
Wednesday, October 4
The U.S. Energy Information Administration is to release weekly data on oil and gasoline stockpiles.
Thursday, October 5
The U.S. government is set to produce a weekly report on natural gas supplies in storage.
Friday, October 6
Baker Hughes will release weekly data on the U.S. oil rig count.