Oil prices heading for longest run of monthly gains in five years
Oil prices are on course for the longest run of monthly gains in five years, helped by supply outages across the world.
Brent crude, the global benchmark, slumped 0.9 per cent to $49.33 per barrel today. West Texas Intermediate crude, the US benchmark, also fell 0.2 per cent to $49.4.
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This came as Middle Eastern producers increased production ahead of an Opec meeting later this week. It will be following in the footsteps of fellow Opec producers Kuwait, Iran and the UAE who plan to raise supplies by a third.
But prices are still up around eight per cent this month for the longest run of monthly gains since April 2011, Bloomberg reported.
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Supply disruptions have helped the black stuff recover from a multi-year low of below $28 per barrel in January.
A number of big investments banks — including uber bear Goldman Sachs — have also become more optimistic about the outlook for crude.