Oil prices rose on Friday amid Opec-led supply cuts, and US sanctions against Iran and Venezuela, putting crude markets on track for their biggest quarterly rise since 2009. May Brent crude oil futures were up 83 cents at $68.65 a barrel by 1232 GMT, set for a gain of nearly 28% in the first quarter. The more active June contract was up 89 cents at $67.99 a barrel.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures were at $60.44 per barrel, up 1.14 cents, and on track for a rise of more than 33% over the January-March period. For the two futures contracts, January-March 2019 is the best-performing quarter since the second quarter of 2009, when both gained about 40%. Oil prices have been supported for much of this year by an agreement between the Opec and allies such as Russia to cut output by around 1.2 million barrels per day. “Production cuts from the Opec+ group of producers have been the main reason for the dramatic recovery since the 38% price slump seen during the final quarter of last year,” said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank.
