Investing.com – Crude futures settled higher on Monday, as investors cheered news of a producers’ meeting slated for next week and possible sanctions from the U.S against Opec-member Venezuela.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange crude futures for September delivery rose 46 cents to trade at $50.17 a barrel, while on London's Intercontinental Exchange, Brent added 10 cents to trade at $52.62 a barrel.
Crude futures rose above $50 a barrel for the first in two months, after U.S. officials said sanctions on Venezuela’s oil sector could be announced as early as Monday, in response to an election held on Sunday, which Washington has called a “sham”.
Also supporting upbeat sentiment on oil prices, were reports from several news agencies suggesting that some members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and non-Opec nations will meet on Aug 7-9 in Abu Dhabi to discuss how to increase compliance with the deal to cut production by 1.8m barrels per day (bpd) to March 2018.
The reports come a week after ministers from major crude-producing nations gathered in St. Petersburg, Russia, and vowed to increase compliance while Saudi Arabia said it would limit crude oil exports at 6.6 million bpd.
Opec’s compliance rate with deal to curb production, fell to 78% in June, the IEA said in its report earlier this month.
The rally in crude futures comes after weeks of bearish sentiment pressured prices to slump under $42 a barrel amid fears that growing U.S. crude stockpiles would undermine Opec and its allies’ efforts to stem the glut in the supply.
U.S. crude supplies, however, have fallen four weeks in row while production activity has also eased, with just 10 rig added in July, the fewest since May 2016.