Oil may surge to $71.55 a barrel within two months as prices complete a “head and shoulders” formation, according to technical analysts at Barclays Capital. “The risk is for an overshoot toward $71.55,” analysts including MacNeil Curry in New York said in a report yesterday from Barclays Plc’s investment bank. The “shoulder” of the pattern is around Dec. 24, when the June contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell as low as $42.51 a barrel. The “head” then comes around Feb. 19, when prices slid to $40.85, and the second shoulder of about $46.72 was reached on April 21, Barclays said. The pattern is an upside-down, or inverted head and shoulders, where the head is lower than the shoulders. If oil prices break through the highest points reached during the interval between the head and second shoulder, around $55.02 to $56.10 a barrel, it clears the way for a move to $62, according to Barclays. If the head-and-shoulders formation is then extended, crude may rise to $71.55 as early as next month, according to the Barclays analysts. June oil futures rose above $56 a barrel during yesterday’s trading on the Nymex. “With the outlook for risky and pro-growth assets continuing to improve, particularly as U.S. equity markets turn positive for the year, we are growing more constructive on energy markets,” the investment bank added. At the start of April, Barclays technical analysts said that the imminent cross-over of crude’s 100-day moving average by the 50-day mean “would be bullish.” Prices have since gained about 10 percent.

Source