Oil rises above $60 for first time this yearFebruary 13, 2015 - 14:36 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Oil rose above $60 a barrel on Friday, Feb 13, for the first time this year, bringing its gain this week to almost 4 percent, supported by signs that deeper industry spending cuts may curb excess supply, according to Reuters. Also supporting oil, growth in Germany's gross domestic product beat expectations, as did plans for a meeting between Greek officials and creditors. Eurozone GDP data is due later on Friday. The price of Brent crude collapsed from $115 in June to $45.19, the lowest in almost six years, in January due to oversupply. Since January, mounting signs of lower industry spending have helped prices move higher. Apache Corp, a top U.S. shale oil producer, said on Thursday it would cut capital spending and its rig count in 2015 following the price collapse, keeping its output growth mostly flat. Brent for April delivery was up 76 cents at $60.04 by 0917 GMT, after briefly gaining more than $1. The March contract expired overnight. U.S. crude was up 61 cents at $51.82. "During the last weeks, crude oil rebounded driven by improved market sentiment and by expectations that low prices will lead to lower supply growth in 2015," said Daniela Corsini, analyst at Intesa Sanpaolo, in a report. Besides Apache's update, Royal Dutch Shell's chief executive said on Thursday supply might not be able to keep up with growing demand as companies reduce budgets, and France's Total announced investment and job cuts. Still, analysts at JBC Energy in Vienna pointed out in reference to Apache's moves that spending cuts can easily be reversed. "While the company expects North American onshore production to be flat this year, they emphasize their flexibility to come back very quickly if the price environment or the cost structure changes sufficiently," JBC said. "This is generally what makes most people doubt that the latest rally can be sustained." A weaker U.S. dollar, which makes dollar-denominated commodities cheaper for holders of other currencies, has also supported oil this week, analysts say. Top stories Yerevan has dismissed Turkey’s demand to shut down the Armenian nuclear power plant as “inappropriate”. Armenia will loan 2.9 billion drams to Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh), according to a draft government decision. The Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan has “strongly condemned” Armenia’s decision. Kerobyan has said that for the first time in the history of Armenia, the volume of foreign direct investments amounted to about $1 billion. Partner news | Director General of Ucom takes part in recruiting conference Ralph Yirikian participated in the Recruit Days business and networking conference organized by Move2Career. Armenia to participate in key EU meeting for the first time ever National Assembly speaker Alen Simonyan has said that Armenia will for the first time participate in the Conference. Lavrov rejects Armenia’s “defamation” of Russia, CSTO Lavrov decried the Armenian leaders’ “defamation” of Russian soldiers and border guards deployed in Armenia. U.S. reacts to Russia’s criticism of upcoming Armenia-EU-U.S. meeting Matthew Miller has weighed in on Russia’s criticism of an upcoming Armenia-EU-U.S. meeting. |