MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Generic US West Texas Intermediate crude futures reached a peak of $30.18 per barrel at 13:05 local time (18:05 GMT) before falling back to $29.71 per barrel by 15:25, in a overall rally over 10 percent compared to Wednesday's closing price of $26.55 per barrel, the lowest since May 2003.
Brent Crude generic futures traded on the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) also rallied late afternoon, reaching $29.77 per barrel by 5:05 GMT and later sliding to $29.45 per barrel by 20:20 GMT in an increase of over 6 percent since Wednesday.
On Wednesady, Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir denied allegations that Riyadh intentionally drives down global oil prices by refusing to cut production. Brent crude prices plunged from $115 per barrel to $48.5 per barrel between June 2014 and January 2015. Despite the decline in global prices, OPEC resolved to continue production at the 30 million barrels per day level.
