Oil prices surged on Monday

International benchmarks for oil prices continue to move higher on Monday (15 August) as market remained hopeful that Saudi would work with other oil producers to create a collective production cap. Signal becomes stronger when the Russian oil minister commented his country is working closely with Saudi to achieve oil market stability. However, analyst remained skeptical about the influence OPEC will have on supply and demand and advised players to differentiate between words and actions.

WTI closed at $45.74/barrel (+$1.25) September delivery

Brent closed at $48.35/barrel (+$1.38) October delivery