OIL PRICE: ABOVE $61

REUTERS, BLOOMBERG  - Oil rose to its highest since mid-2015 on Wednesday as data showed OPEC has significantly improved compliance with its pledged supply cuts and Russia is also widely expected to keep to the deal. 

Brent crude futures LCOc1 were up 59 cents at $61.53 per barrel at 0905 GMT, having hit a session peak of $61.70 earlier, the highest since July 2015.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 was at $55.12 a barrel, up 74 cents.

The oil price gained 7 percent in October, marking the fourth consecutive month of gains.

"The bulls have it and momentum is strong," Saxo Bank senior manager Ole Hansen said.

"We know how oil can easily run ahead of what is fundamentally justified and we've seen that in both directions in the last couple of years," he said. "We really need to see demand growth pick up even more strongly than what is currently expected for the bullish outlook for to be maintained."

Optimism has been fueled by an effort this year lead by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Russia and other producers to hold back about 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) in oil production to tighten markets.

OPEC's October output fell by 80,000 bpd to 32.78 million bpd, putting adherence to its pledged supply curbs at 92 percent, up from September's 86 percent.

Analysts and traders expect Russia to stick to its agreement to curb its oil output by 300,000 bpd from 11.247 million bpd reached in October 2016.

Saudi Arabia and Russia are considering extending the agreement to potentially cover all of next year.

Should participants after that return to full capacity and U.S. output also grow, a supply glut could return.

"We could rapidly ... go from a predicted deficit of around 260,000 barrels to a surplus of close to 1.5 million barrels. Prices would undoubtedly collapse," said Matt Stanley, a fuel broker at Freight Investor Services.

Another factor will be U.S. output, which has risen by almost 13 percent since mid-2016 to 9.5 million bpd. 

"U.S. crude oil production is 410,000 bpd below the April 2015 peak of 9.62 million bpd. We expect production to surpass this level before year-end," Barclays bank said.

-----

Earlier:

October, 30, 11:50:00 OIL PRICE: ABOVE $60 YET Brent crude futures, the international benchmark for oil prices, were at $60.55 per barrel at 0655 GMT, 10 cents or 0.15 percent above their last settlement and near their highest level since July 2015. They have risen more than 36 percent since from 2017-lows marked in June. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 11 cents, or 0.2 percent, at $54.01 a barrel. Русский | English

October, 30, 11:45:00 OIL PRICES WILL UP TO $56 WBG - Oil prices are forecast to rise to $56 a barrel in 2018 from $53 this year as a result of steadily growing demand, agreed production cuts among oil exporters and stabilizing U.S. shale oil production, while the surge in metals prices is expected to level off next year, the World Bank said.

October, 27, 19:40:00 OIL PRICE: ABOVE $60 Brent LCOc1 rose 59 cents to $58.89 a barrel by 10:51 a.m. ET, after rising to a session high of $60.08, the highest since July 2015 and more than 35 percent above its 2017 lows touched in June. U.S. light crude oil CLc1 was up 78 cents, or 1.48 percent at $53.42 after rising to a session high of $53.52 a barrel. U.S. crude prices have been capped by rising U.S. production. Русский | English

October, 27, 19:30:00 СПРОС НА НЕФТЬ ВЫРАСТЕТ Отвечая на вопрос о прогнозе мирового потребления нефти, Александр Новак отметил, что спрос на нефть будет расти в ближайшие пару десятилетий, но более низкими темпами, чем рост экономики. «Чуть меньше 1% в период ближайших 15-20 лет», - пояснил Министр.

October, 25, 12:35:00 OPTIMISTIC OIL PRICES Futures edged higher from the settlement in after-market trading in New York, prompted by reports that data from the American Petroleum Institute showed a 5.75 million barrel drop in gasoline last week and 4.95 million fewer barrels of distillate. Meanwhile, OPEC, set to meet next month on prolonging the cuts, are said to be planning how to prevent a new price-killing glut once they end.

October, 25, 12:30:00 OIL PRICES NO OPPORTUNITIES "They [big OPEC and Middle Eastern producers] cannot be too ambitious [on their oil price targets]...there's not much [upside] room for them to hope for," Sadamori said. "Once the oil price goes to certain levels, this will stimulate new drilling and investments in North America," he added.

October, 11, 12:50:00 OIL PRICES 2020: $50 - $60 Based on a “lower-for-longer” base-case scenario, global oil prices will remain in the $50-60/bbl range until late 2020, due to increasing supply that breaks even at $50/bbl, according to to the most recent global oil supply and demand outlook from McKinsey Energy Insights (MEI).