Original title: Brent crude rose above $60 for the first time in a year! But be wary of a possible rise in US production

Investing.com-crude oil prices strengthened at midday in Asia on Monday, with Brent crude futures rising above the $60 mark for the first time since February last year, helped by continued supply restrictions in major oil producers and progress in a new stimulus package in the United States.

Weak non-farm materials push the United States to introduce more stimulus measures, which in turn boost demand

The official non-farm payrolls report for January released on the same day showed that the number of new jobs was less than the market expected. Only 49000 new jobs were created, compared with 50, 000 expected by the market. Later this week, the United States will release more economic data, including consumer inflation data CPI and the federal budget.

Although non-farmers fell short of market expectations, some investors expected weak data to help the US launch more stimulus measures, thereby boosting demand.

ANZ analysts said in a research note that "the weak US jobs report boosted expectations of more stimulus measures in the US", adding that energy products and industrial metals would benefit.

OPEC + continues to tighten supply, but US production is likely to pick up

At the same time, Saudi Arabia promised to continue to reduce supply in February and March, and OPEC and its allies (OPEC +) also said they would continue to strictly abide by the production reduction agreement. These actions will help rebalance the oil market.

The spread on the Brent six-month crude contract closed at $2.33 on Friday, after hitting an one-year high of $2.44, indicating that supply is tightening.

On the other hand, because of higher oil prices, American producers began to increase production. The number of oil rigs in the US rose to its highest level since May the previous week, according to oil service company Baker Hughes.

In addition, blockades in parts of Europe and Asia continue to dampen fuel demand.

As of 13:51 Beijing time (00:51 EDT), British Financial Information Investing.com commodity prices show:

Us WTI crude oil futures rose 63 cents, or 1.11%, to $57.48 a barrel. Brent crude futures rose 41 cents, or 0.69, to $59.97 a barrel, rising above $60 for the first time since February. The price of natural gas rose 2.08% to $2.942.