Oil rises despite US production topping 10-million bpd for the first time since 1970
London — Oil rose on Thursday after a survey showed oil cartel Opec’s commitment to its supply cuts remains in place, even as US production topped 10-million barrels per day (bpd) for the first time since 1970. Brent April crude futures were up 49c on the day at $69.38 a barrel by 9.46am GMT, while Nymex crude for March delivery rose 45c to $65.18 a barrel. Brent crude rose by 3.3% in January, its strongest start to the year for five years, in line with a broad rise in other risk-linked assets such as US equities, which hit record highs last month and marked their biggest January increase since 1997. With investors now pondering which of oil’s current key driving forces will prove to be the dominant one — rising US crude output, or Opec’s adherence to its supply cuts — the relationship with equities and even the dollar is likely to erode. "I don’t think it’s durable, that suddenly we see oil and the S&P attached at the hip. They have coincidentally done well and it’s profit-taking. ...
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