Crude oil just had its biggest day in 7 years (USO, WTI, OIL, VDE)

Crude oil just had its biggest day in seven years.

On Friday, West Texas Intermediate crude futures in New York surged 12% to $29.44 per barrel, its biggest intraday percentage gain since February 2009.

On Thursday, WTI fell to a 12-year low of $26.21. Prices had been declining earlier in the week after the International Energy Agency warned that the excess of supply over demand was set to worsen.

But prices started rebounding Thursday after a Wall Street Journal reporter tweeted that OPEC was willing to cooperate on production cuts, according to the UAE energy minister.

And so like we saw after similar comments from Russia's oil minister late last month, crude oil prices are still proving sensitive to any indications that the global supply glut could be addressed.

On Friday, oil driller Baker Hughes reported that the US oil rig count fell for an eighth straight week, signaling that perhaps US shale oil production could be set to slow.

Andy Kiersz/Business Insider

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