Oil Heads for Best First Quarter in 17 Years on Supply Outlook

Output cuts from OPEC+, Gulf Coast issues supporting prices
Decision day looms for U.S. waivers on sanctioned Iran crude

Crude oil pipelines stand at the U.S. Department of Energy's Bryan Mound Strategic Petroleum Reserve in Freeport, Texas, U.S.Photographer: Luke Sharrett

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By Ben Foldy

March 25, 2019 at 10:46 PM UTC

Updated on

March 26, 2019 at 8:55 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Oil continued its torrid start to the year as bullish supply news from the world’s second-biggest producer and disruptions to refiners along the Houston Ship Channel kept futures on pace for the best first quarter since 2002.

Crude rose 1.9 percent in New York on Tuesday. Energy Minister Alexander Novak told reporters in Moscow that Russia will likely reach its pledged output cut of 228,000 barrels a day by the end of the month. OPEC and its partners, led by Saudi Arabia, have been cutting supplies to counter a global supply glut. In the U.S., the industry-funded American Petroleum Institute was said to report crude stockpiles rose 1.93 million barrels last week.