Investing.com - Oil prices have staged an incredible rally over the past three months, with futures rising to within striking distance of the key $50-level earlier this week.
London-traded Brent futures jumped to $49.85 on Wednesday, a level not seen since November 4, while New York-traded oil futures rallied to $48.95, the most since October 12.
Since falling to 13-year lows at $26.05 on February 11, Nymex oil futures are up nearly 80%, while Brent futures prices are up by roughly 85% since briefly dropping below $30 a barrel in mid-February.
Short-covering began in mid-February after Saudi Arabia and fellow OPEC members Qatar and Venezuela agreed with non-OPEC member Russia to freeze output at January levels, provided other oil exporters joined in.
More recently, oil prices have been well-supported due to a combination of Nigerian, Libyan and Venezuelan supply outages, declining U.S. shale output and reduced production of Canadian crude as a result of fires in Alberta's oil sands region.
Despite the sharp rally, analysts warned that market conditions remained weak due to an ongoing glut.
To see more of Investing.com’s weekly comics, visit: investing.com/comics