Oil prices extended gains on Friday, December 9, 2016 on optimism that non-OPEC producers would agree to cut output following a cartel agreement to limit production.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, will meet non-OPEC nations in Vienna on Saturday to seek their help in curbing a global supply glut.
Azerbaijan already said it would come to the Austrian capital armed with proposals for its own reduction.
Brent sweet crude for February delivery was up 17 cents at $54.06 a barrel after settling up 1.7 per cent on Thursday.
The contract hit its highest since July 2015 at $55.33 on Monday.
NYMEX crude for January delivery was up 33 cents at $51.17 a barrel.
Russia has said it would cut 300,000 barrels per day, meaning other non-OPEC producers combined would need to pledge the same amount to lower output by the 600,000 bpd.
After the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, reached its first deal in eight years, oil prices have been on the increase but they remain short of Nigeria’s healthy price range.
Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil, had climbed to $50.47, as of Thursday, December 1, 2016, with West Texas Intermediate, WTI, was trading at $49.81 per barrel.
Ibe Kachikwu, minister of state for petroleum resources, said on the sidelines of the meeting in Vienna that the healthy price of crude for Nigeria would be in the mid-$50s.
Dr. Kachikwu said for Nigeria, a healthy oil price would be mid-50s: 54, 55, 56.
