The price of North Sea oil is approaching $ 40 per barrel after several weeks of recovery. Less drilling in the United States and strong US employment figures contributes to the rise.
Oil prices have now been on the rise for nearly a month, and North Sea oil was traded at $ 39.4 a barrel in Asia on Monday morning . This is the highest level so far this year. American light oil cost $ 36.6 per barrel.
The number of active rigs exploring for oil in the US is at its lowest level in over six years, according to the news agency Bloomberg. The decline is an expected consequence of the sharp drop in oil prices that began in the summer of 2014. Many analysts have nevertheless been surprised how long it took before the US oil drilling slowed down significantly.
The new US employment figures, which were stronger than expected, was presented Friday. Lower dollar exchange rate also contributes to inflation, since oil is priced in dollars.
For oil prices to rise further, which, however, an agreement with the oil cartel OPEC on production cuts is needed , according to analysts talking to AFP .
Saudi Arabia, several other OPEC countries and Russia have all agreed to freeze production if other major oil producing countries do the same. So far it is not clear when and if the production freeze becomes a reality.
Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today
