West Texas Intermediate futures for March delivery rose to $27.41 (+4.58%), while Brent crude surged to $31.44 (+4.59%) after sharp declines on Thursday. Oil prices bounced off a twelve-year low on short-covering. Comments from U.A.E. energy minister Suhail Al Mazrouei helped to support prices too. The Wall Street Journal wrote that Suhail Al Mazrouei said OPEC was ready to cooperate to reduce output. However, most analysts don't expect such talks to materialize. Such speculations cannot be reliable market fundamentals unless such players as Saudi Arabia and Iraq take real steps to tame excessive supplies.