OIL PRICE: ABOVE $66

REUTERS - Oil prices on Monday hit their highest levels since November last year, lifted by OPEC-led supply cuts, U.S. sanctions on Iran and Venezuela, and hopes that the Sino-U.S. trade dispute may soon end.

International Brent crude futures were at $66.66 per barrel at 0746 GMT, up 41 cents, or 0.6 percent, from their last close. Brent earlier climbed to its highest since November 2018 at $66.78 a barrel.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures were at $56.07 per barrel, up 48 cents, or 0.9 percent, from their close. WTI prices also rose to their highest since November, at $56.13 per barrel, earlier on Monday.

Prices have been bolstered by a tightening market because of supply cuts organized by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and some non-affiliated producers like Russia. The group of producer countries agreed late last year to cut output by 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) to prevent a large supply overhang from swelling.

Further supporting crude prices have been U.S. sanctions against oil exporters and OPEC-members Iran and Venezuela.

Financial markets, including crude futures, were also generally supported by hopes that the United States and China would soon resolve their trade disputes, which have dragged on global economic growth.

"OPEC production cuts and U.S. sanctions on both Iran and Venezuela are limiting supply. Trade tensions which have weighed on global growth are showing signs of easing boosting sentiment across markets and lifting oil demand prospects," said Jasper Lawler, head of research at futures brokerage London Capital Group.

SLOWING DOWN

Earlier in the trading day, news of a fall in Chinese car sales in January had raised concerns about how fuel demand in the world's second-largest oil user might fare.

China's vehicle sales last month fell by 15.8 percent versus the same month in 2018, an industry association said on Monday. This continued the 2018 trend, in which China recorded the first annual drop in vehicle sales on record.

So-called new energy vehicle sales in January, which include electric vehicles, registered a 140 percent increase, underlining expectations that oil demand from cars may peak in China in the coming years.

Looming over oil markets in the near term, meanwhile, is the rise in U.S. crude oil production of more than 2 million bpd in 2018, to a record 11.9 million bpd - with signs that U.S. output will rise further.

U.S. energy firms last week increased the number of oil rigs looking for new supply by three, to a total of 857, energy services firm Baker Hughes said in a weekly report last Friday.

That means the U.S. rig count is higher than a year ago when fewer than 800 rigs were active.

-----

Earlier: 

2019, February, 15, 12:50:00 OIL PRICE: ABOVE $64 YET REUTERS - Brent crude oil briefly reached 2019 highs above $65 per barrel on Friday, as OPEC-led supply cuts and the announcement of a higher-than-expected cut by Saudi Arabia this week encouraged investors.

2019, February, 15, 12:45:00 ЦЕНА URALS: $ 61,70304 МИНФИН РОССИИ - Средняя цена на нефть Urals за период мониторинга с 15 января года по 14 февраля 2019 года составила $ 61,70304 за баррель, или $ 450,4 за тонну. Согласно расчетам Минфина России экспортная пошлина на нефть в РФ с 1 марта 2019 года повысится на $ 10,5 и составит $ 91,2 за тонну.

2019, February, 15, 12:00:00 OPEC REMAINS HARD PLATTS - "Our primary objective is to ensure that the oil market remains in balance throughout 2019 and beyond in order to build on the success of the past couple of years," added Barkindo.

2019, February, 13, 12:20:00 OIL PRICE: NEAR $63 AGAIN REUTERS - Oil prices rose on Wednesday as producer club OPEC said it had cut supply deeply in January and as U.S. sanctions hit Venezuela’s oil exports.

2019, February, 13, 12:15:00 OPEC OIL PRODUCTION 30.81 MBD PLATTS - OPEC has painted a bearish picture for 2019, with demand for its crude oil expected to fall due to weak demand growth and a sharp rise in output from producers outside the group.

2019, February, 13, 12:10:00 OPEC ISN'T A CARTEL REUTERS - OPEC Secretary-General Mohammad Barkindo said the exporting group was not in the business of fixing oil prices, when asked on Monday to comment on a U.S. House committee passing a bill targeting OPEC oil supply cuts.

2019, February, 11, 10:40:00 OIL PRICE: NEAR $62 YET REUTERS - U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $52.09 per barrel at 0347 GMT, down 63 cents, or 1.2 percent, from their last settlement. International Brent crude oil futures were down 49 cents, or 0.8 percent, at $61.61 a barrel.