Commodities: Crude rises amid split views on when $60/bbl will be hit
Updated : 15:06
Crude futures are tending higher on Tuesday but remain well below the $50 a barrel mark and face choppy pricing action into 2017, with expert views diverging on whether it will hit $60 a barrel this year or next.
At about 1424 GMT, Nymex-priced West Texas Intermediate crude was up 0.34% to $47.02 a barrel, while Intercontinental Exchange-quoted Brent was up 0.6% to $48.9 a barrel.
"With the worst of the oil-price collapse behind us, crude prices may continue to recover in 2017," said Evdokia Pitsillidou of easyMarkets, noting the road ahead will be "choppy".
A recent forecast by Deloitte has WTI touching $60 a barrel in 2017, from its present sub-2014 level. Goldman Sachs expects WTI futures to average $53 in 2017.
"Even if OPEC members continue to scale back production to boost prices, this might create more opportunity for US shale producers to get back online," said Pitsillidou.
"We've already seen it happen in the third quarter of 2016, where the number of active US rigs rose by 95 -- the highest level since 2014.
"Rig numbers are likely to rise further as oil prices stabilise, thus minimising the impact felt from any scaling of production by OPEC members."
SwissQuote noted that deeper selling pressures on crude futures were increasing. "We maintain our bearish view," it said in a research note.
"Crude oil is holding way above its 200-day moving average. (It is) expected to reach $60 before year-end," SwissQuote said.
Meantime, Comex-traded told was up 1.11% to $1287.20 an ounce, with silver up 2.78% to $18.29 an ounce and copper up 0.54% to 221.7 cents a pound.
London Metals Exchange-priced three-month industrial metals prices for copper, aluminum and tin were ahead, with zinc making particularly strong gains.
Chicago Board of Trade-listed corn fell 1.2% to 350.5 cents a bushel, and wheat shed 0.48% to 414.25 cents a bushel.
ICE-quoted cocoa fell 0.64% to $2626 a MT, with cotton No.2 down 0.57% to 68.47 cents a pound and live cattle up 1.11% to 104.48 cents a pound.