Oil Prices Rise; Rally Extends to Four Days

Oil prices shot up 38 cents a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Friday in a four-day rally that has propelled the key U.S. crude back into OPEC’s targeted $18-a-barrel range.

Oil traded on the European spot market rose by as much as 35 cents a barrel.

West Texas intermediate--the benchmark U.S. crude--climbed 38 cents to $18.13 a barrel on the Merc, the highest close since it finished at $18.45 a barrel on Feb. 10.

On the U.S. Gulf Coast market, West Texas intermediate jumped 35 cents to $18 a barrel.

West Texas intermediate gained a total of $1.74 a barrel on the Merc in the last four days of the week after several officials of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and industry sources said the 13-nation cartel was holding production within its daily 15.8-million-barrel ceiling.

The dramatic price rebound halted a six-week slide that began in mid-January, when reports surfaced that OPEC was overproducing by nearly 1 million barrels a day and jeopardizing its Dec. 20 agreement to raise oil prices to an official average of $18 a barrel.

“Unless OPEC proves us wrong by undercutting its official price structure, the U.S. market has to stay within the $18 range,” said Richard Marose, analyst at Stotler & Co. in Chicago.

Oil prices had tumbled by nearly $3 a barrel in the six weeks before a buying spree swept world markets Tuesday and buoyed prices for the rest of the week.