LONDON: Oil prices rose more than 2 per cent on the final day of the year, mirroring gains in stock markets, but were on track for their first annual decline in three years as concerns of a persistent supply glut lingered.

Brent crude futures were up 75 cents at $53.96 a barrel by 1357 GMT but rose over $1 to a high of $54.82 in earlier trade.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $45.90 a barrel, up 57 cents. In earlier trade, WTI was up over $1 at $46.53 a barrel. Both contracts are down more than a third this quarter, the steepest decline since the fourth quarter of 2014.

Published in Dawn, January 1st, 2019