Oil hits highest since mid-2015
Oil rose to its highest since mid-2015 on Wednesday as data showed Opec has significantly improved compliance with its pledged supply cuts and Russia is also widely expected to keep to the deal.
Brent crude futures were up 59 cents at $61.53 per barrel at 0905 GMT, having hit a session peak of $61.70 earlier, the highest since July 2015.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was at $55.12 a barrel, up 74 cents.
The oil price gained 7 percent in October, marking the fourth consecutive month of gains.
“The bulls have it and momentum is strong,” Saxo Bank senior manager Ole Hansen said.
“We know how oil can easily run ahead of what is fundamentally justified and we've seen that in both directions in the last couple of years,” he said. “We really need to see demand growth pick up even more strongly than what is currently expected for the bullish outlook for to be maintained.”
Optimism has been fueled by an effort this year lead by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), Russia and other producers to hold back about 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) in oil production to tighten markets.
Opec's October output fell by 80,000 bpd to 32.78 million bpd, putting adherence to its pledged supply curbs at 92 percent, up from September's 86 percent.
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