Oil jumps to 6-week high ahead of US inventories data

Oil prices continued to rise as the US market opened today, rising for the fifth consecutive day to 6-week highs, as the new Saudi energy minister confirmed his commitment to the current oil policy, and to continue cutting output within the OPEC agreement to reach a better balance in the market, and ahead of preliminary data on the US oil inventories.

WTI rose to $58.52 a barrel (the highest since July 31), from the opening of $57.99, with a low of $57.85.

Brent rose to $63.28 a barrel (the highest since August 1st), from the opening of $62.82, with a low of $62.57.

WTI closed higher by 2.5% yesterday, and Brent futures rose by 1.6%, in their fourth consecutive daily gain, after a decline in the US drilling activities.

King Salman appointed one of his son, Prince Abdulaziz, as the Minister of Energy, to replace Khalid Al-Falih, which is the first time the Ministry of Energy is appointed to a member of the royal family.

 Abdul Aziz bin Salman that there will be no shift in the country's policy and the OPEC's agreement to cut global oil production by 1.2 million barrels per day is continuing, and that the alliance OPEC Plus will continue for the long term.

A joint OPEC Plus technical committee will meet on Thursday in Abu Dhabi to discuss an output cut to support the market.

The American Petroleum Institute (API) will release preliminary data on US oil inventories, with forecasts for the third weekly drop while the official data will be released tomorrow by the EIA.