Oil price ticks up

The bulls are out in force in the oil market. Having slumped by 78% from last summer’s record price of $147 a barrel to $32 in December, the price in New York has since gained around 40% to $47. Options traders are pencilling in $50 within the next two months; Johannes Benigni of JCB Energy sees scope for further gains of 10%- 15%, even if oil cartel Opec doesn’t cut production further at its 15 March meeting.

Opec provides enough oil to satisfy around a third of global consumption. But production has been falling away rapidly, mopping up spare supplies. Opec-11 (which excludes Iraq) has agreed to cut production by 4.2 million barrels per day, and the latest figures suggest that 88% of the cuts have been achieved