30/03/2019
*SINGAPORE (Reuters)
Oil prices rose on the back of OPEC-led supply cuts and US sanctions on Iran and Venezuela, which is putting crude markets on record for the biggest quarterly gain since 2009.
By 0559 GMT, US WTI crude futures were at $ 59.68 a barrel, up 38 cents, or 0.6 percent, from the previous settlement.
US crude futures are up for the fourth week in a row, up 31 percent in the first three months of the year.
London Brent crude was up 34 cents, or 0.5 percent, at $ 68.16 a barrel.
Brent futures are set to gain a weekly gain of 1.7 percent and a 27 percent increase in the first quarter of this year.
For two crudes' futures, the first quarter of 2019 was the best quarterly performance since the second quarter of 2009, when it rose nearly 40 percent.
Since the beginning of the year, oil prices have been supported by efforts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and foreign allies such as Russia, in an alliance known as OPEC +, which have pledged to cut supply by about 1.2 million bpd this year to support markets.
US investment bank Jefferies said today that the market could see a severe shortage in the third quarter of 2019.
