Oil prices climb 14 per cent

20 February 2009

Oil prices climbed as much as 14 per cent on Thursday as the market showed signs of an unexpected recovery.

US crude for March delivery rose by $4.86 to settle at $39.48 (£28) a barrel, bringing an end to a series of oil price falls over recent weeks.

London Brent crude for April also rallied to gain $2.44 and closed at $41.99 a barrel.

The rebound comes after a series of Opec supply cuts were carried out to rebalance the market.

US government data suggests that the attempts have proved successful after figures showed that crude oil inventories fell for the first time in almost two months last week.

Commodity analyst at Summit Energy Amanda Kurzendoerfer told Reuters the reduction in stockpiles had come as a "surprise" and attributed it to a fall in imports.

"We'll have to see if the import decline is the start of a trend as Opec is really doing a lot to carry out output cuts," she added.

Heating oil customers have seen the price of crude oil fall significantly in recent months as a result of a slump in demand brought about by the global economic crisis.

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