subscribe now to get the evening briefing five things matt levines money stuff balance of power and tech daily subscribe now to get the evening briefing five things matt levines money stuff balance of power and tech daily subscribe now to get the evening briefing five things matt levines money stuff balance of power and tech daily by submitting my information i agree to the privacy policy and terms of service and to receive offers and promotions from bloomberg oil steadied following the first backtoback weekly gain since may after saudi arabia and russia pledged measures to tighten supply brent futures traded near 78 a barrel after advancing 48 last week with the market flashing signs of strength following the announced supply cuts by the opec heavyweights speculators have increased their bullish bets raising netlong positions for the global benchmark and west texas intermediate oil oil remains about 9 lower for the year due in part to china’s lackluster economic recovery and aggressive monetary tightening by central banks a solid us employment report keeps the federal reserve on track to boost interest rates this month maintaining headwinds for crude prices the us announced on friday that it’s purchasing 6 million more barrels of crude for the strategic petroleum reserve as the nation continues to slowly refill the emergency stockpile the purchases scheduled for october and november come as the reserve is at its lowest point in 40 years to get bloomberg’s energy daily newsletter direct into your inbox click here