Oil prices rose above $59 a barrel Friday after Norway ordered production shut down at two offshore platforms, reducing flows by about 10 percent from the world’s third-largest oil exporter, the Associated Press reports.
A decline in U.S. inventories of distillate, which includes heating oil, also played a part in the rally of more than $1 a barrel, and traders continued to watch OPEC for any sign that the cartel will cut output.
Saudi Arabia – the largest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries – has yet to publicly confirm repeated statements from OPEC’s president that members are “nearing consensus” on how to divvy up a 1 million-barrel-a-day reduction.