Investing.com – The year hasn’t even begun and the Russians are already hinting at reduced OPEC cuts. Not that it seems to matter to oil bulls who sent crude prices up again on Monday, leveraging on the thin volumes typical at this time of year.
NYMEX-traded West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. crude benchmark, was up $0.09, or 0.2%, at $60.55 per barrel by 1:00 PM ET (18:00 GMT).
ICE-traded Brent, the global oil benchmark, rose 19 cents, or 0.3%, to $66.33.
Oil was down earlier in the session after Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said the OPEC+ alliance may consider easing output restrictions at its March meeting.
“We can consider any options, including gradual easing of quotas, including continuation of the deal,” Novak told Russia’s RBC TV in an interview recorded last week and aired on Monday. He added that Russia’s oil output was set to hit a record high this year.
The Saudi-controlled OPEC and other oil-producing nations led by Russia announced earlier this month plans to deepen existing output cuts of 1.2 million barrels per day to as much as 2.1 million bpd, or 2.1% of world supply, in the first quarter of 2020.
Despite that pledge, analysts said global oil supplies could rise in the coming year due to an influx in non-OPEC supply from the United States, Brazil, Norway and Guyana.
Another potential source of more oil in the coming months could be Kuwait, which has indicated that a long-standing dispute over the “Neutral Zone” on its border with Saudi Arabia will be resolved by the end of 2019.
Production at two large oil fields in the Neutral Zone was halted more than three years ago, reducing output by some 500,000 bpd.