U.S. oil prices hit their highest since 2015 again today as speculators bet on further price rises amid OPEC-led production cuts and a dip in American drilling activity.
Brent crude futures were at $68.11 a barrel, 0.5 percent above their last close. Brent touched $68.27 last week, its highest since May, 2015.
WTI crude futures were at $62.16 a barrel at 0751 GMT - 0.7 percent, above their last settlement. They earlier matched a May-2015 high of $62.56 a barrel.
Traders said prices were mainly being driven by speculative money being poured into crude futures on the notion of a tighter market following a year of production cuts led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and Russia, which are set to last through 2018.
A slight dip in the amount of rigs in the United States drilling for new oil was supporting WTI, traders said. The number of rigs drilling for oil fell by 5 to 742 in the week to Jan. 5, according to oil services firm Baker Hughes, Reuters reported.
