SINGAPORE: Crude oil prices jumped more than 5 percent on Friday after comments by an OPEC energy minister sparked hopes of a coordinated production cut, yet analysts said such a move remained unlikely and that oversupply would persist.
International benchmark Brent crude was trading at $31.63 per barrel at 0409 GMT, up $1.57, or 5.22 percent, from its last settlement.
Reuters market analyst Wang Tao said a technical analysis of Fibonacci retracements showed that "Brent is expected to test a resistance at $32.72 per barrel."
Friday's jump in Brent came after the United Arab Emirates energy minister said the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was willing to talk with other exporters about cutting output. OPEC members were ready to cooperate with other producers on a cut, the minister said, although he added that cheap oil was already forcing some output reductions which would help rebalance the market itself.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures were trading at $27.57 per barrel, up 5.19 percent or $1.36 from the previous day's settlement after hitting lows not seen since 2003 in the previous session. Traders said that the jump in WTI prices could have been a result of US producers unwinding hedges they had previously locked in at higher prices in order to generate badly needed cash to service debt and costs.
Despite higher Brent and WTI, analysts said they saw little chance of OPEC and non-OPEC producers agreeing on a common policy and that low prices as a result of oversupply would likely persist. "Comments from the UAE energy minister that OPEC was willing to cooperate on production cuts had little impact.
We view this as further jawboning, with the likelihood of a coordinated response on supply cuts very low," ANZ bank said on Friday.
Oil prices have tumbled over 70 percent since mid-2014 as producers pump 1-2 million barrels of crude every day in excess of demand just as global economic growth stalls, led by China's slowdown.
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