Crude oil prices firm up on Thursday

“For months now the the advance-decline line and up-down volume have significantly dropped off and diverged from price”.

Compared with a year ago, though, diesel was 2 cents cheaper but regular was 11 cents higher, and premium 13 cents higher.

Crude oil prices marched higher on Thursday after OPEC approved its first supply cuts in eight years.

OPEC and Russian Federation chose to reduce oil production.

She added retail gasoline prices are directly related, meaning you could be paying 5 to 10 cents more per gallon.

Even if OPEC members carry through on their promises, global oil production would only fall by about 1 percent.

“The deal has not changed our view on long-term oil prices, which we believe are more driven by the marginal cost of supply”.

The agreement has sparked a two-day rally in oil of about 12 percent to above $50. They say retail prices had already been on the rise because of the anticipation that an OPEC deal would be reached.

In the days prior to Wednesday’s deal, the market assigned a low probability that OPEC would come to a meaningful agreement because of arguments between de facto leader Saudi Arabia and third-largest producer Iran.

Crude oil prices shot up almost 10 percent in the wake of the agreement and the enthusiasm spilled over into Thursday trading. OPEC argues that a cut now will “spur investment in new sources of crude that will prevent harmful oil shortages in the future”. The unemployment rate in November dipped to 4.6 as the US economy added 178,000 jobs in non-farm payrolls. Oil had a bull run until June 2014 and was trading above the $100/barrel levels.

The good news for drivers is prices at the pump remain low, at least so far. Palm Beach County’s average jumped 2 cents overnight to $2.28, according to AAA’s Fuel Gauge Report. Its session high was US$51.80 a barrel, US13 cents below its 2016 high.

A drop in crude oil prices that marked an end to the OPEC honeymoon was saved in part by US data showing steady labor gains, though wages remained soft.

The last time Opec countries cut production was in December 2008, when the price of Brent crude was trading at $40 a barrel. “As a net oil importing country, a cut to production capacity would not benefit Indonesia”, the country’s Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry said in a statement.

USA producers are likely to be winners. “Oil can’t continue over US$50”.

Iran also threatened on Friday to retaliate against the US Senate’s vote to extend the Iran Sanctions Act for 10 years, saying it violated last year’s deal with six major powers that curbed its nuclear program. “But frankly, looking more to mid-50s”, he had said. The cut of 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) was at the upper end of expectations (700,00bpd-1.2 million bpd).