U.S. oil prices finished higher for the first time in seven sessions, scoring a rebound from Monday’s lows under $35 a barrel. The rebound for crude-oil prices comes despite concerns that a climate deal in Paris may hurt long-term oil demand.
Natural-gas prices, meanwhile, plunged to their lowest settlement since 2001 as warmer weather and hefty supplies sent prices tumbling. Crude oil for delivery in January tacked on 69 cents,to close at $36.31 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after tapping a low of $34.53 a barrel. Prices had posted declines in each of the past six trading sessions to tally a loss of roughly 13% since the close of $41.08 a barrel on Dec. 3.
“As speculative short positions reach a record…and as WTI gets within a whisker of the low made in late 2008, it seems prices are ripe for an oversold bounce,” said Matthew Smith, director of commodity research at ClipperData. “Whether it can be maintained is another matter.”
January Brent crude LCOF6, -0.47% on London’s ICE Futures exchange, however, settled at $37.92 a barrel, down by a penny to hold at its lowest level since December 2008.
Analysts gauged the potential impact on oil from a historic climate deal that was signed in Paris over the weekend.