WTI crude crests $60 for the first time since Saudi facility attacks

CALGARY (Bloomberg) - Oil settled above $60 a barrel for the first time since missile strikes on Saudi Arabia sparked a record price surge three months ago.

Futures closed 1.5% higher in New York on Friday, buoyed by a partial truce in the U.S.-China trade war that has imperiled demand all year. Chinese officials said the countries agreed to hold off on a new round of tariffs set to go into effect in a matter of days. The bullish momentum was undermined when U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted that existing levies will remain in effect.

“The market has just priced in this outcome to a certain extent already,” Daniel Ghali, a TD Securities commodity strategist, said by phone. “The hope is that a trade deal will translate into more demand.”

Until Friday’s session, crude was poised to end the week little changed after surging more than 7% last week on the strength of a surprise OPEC supply cut. Money managers boosted bullish bets on crude by the most in more than three years in the days before the trade deal was struck.

“Risk appetite among financial investors is now likely to remain high thanks to the deal between the U.S. and China,” said Eugen Weinberg, head of commodities research at Commerzbank AG in Frankfurt. Yet “the oil market risks facing a massive oversupply and a pronounced inventory build, at least in the first half of the year.”

West Texas Intermediate for January delivery rose $0.89 to settle at $60.07 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent for February settlement advanced $1.02 to $65.22 on the London-based ICE Futures Europe Exchange. The global benchmark settled at a $5.24 premium to WTI for the same month.