Oil futures finished higher on Monday, with U.S. prices recovering from an earlier drop to their lowest since December. Oil had a rough few days over the Thanksgiving holiday, which appeared to be due to a “combination of low volumes, thin trading and concerns over demand declining again due to Chinese lockdowns,” said Colin Cieszynski, chief market strategist at SIA Wealth Management. With U.S. traders returning, West Texas Intermediate crude regained the key $75 level, a threshold that has been defended by OPEC+, Cieszynski said. The organization’s 2 million barrel cut in oil production, which started earlier this month, was announced when prices were around this level, he said. U.S. benchmark WTI crude for January delivery CLF23 rose 96 cents, or 1.3%, to settle at $77.24 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after touching an intraday low at $73.60.
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