Oil prices topped $60 at the close of the year, reaching 11 percent higher than their highest levels since 2015. However, the road to these prices have been rocky. During the first six months of the outgoing year, OPEC cuts did not yield any result for the prices.
The cuts started to have an effect after inventory drawdowns resulted in a supply shortage, coupled with an increase in demand thanks to the rising growth rates across the world helped fuel the rise in oil prices.
US Oil Prices rose above $60 a barrel on the final trading day of the year to hit their highest since mid-2015, as an unexpected fall in the American output and a decline in the crude stockpiles. International benchmark Brent Crude futures also rose, supported by the ongoing supply cuts by top producers OPEC and Russia as well as strong demand from China.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 58, or 1 percent, to $60.42 a barrel, marking its best closing price since June 2015.
Brent crude futures, the international benchmark, were also up, rising 76 cents or 1.2 percent to $66.92 a barrel by 2:25 p.m. ET (1925 GMT). Brent broke through $67 earlier this week for the first time since May 2015.
U.S. output is up almost 16 percent since mid-2016, but still shy of 10 million bpd, which would trail only top exporter Saudi Arabia and top producer Russia.
The number of oil rigs operating in U.S. fields remain unchanged for a second week in a row, according to oilfield services firm Baker Hughes. There were 747 oil rigs operating in the latest week, a roughly 42 percent jump from the end of last year.
