Oil rises for third day on expectations of recovery in demand
Oil prices rose for a third day on Thursday as major producers maintain supply discipline and anticipate an increase in fuel demand, particularly in the United States, Europe and China.
Brent crude futures rose 49 cents, or 0.7%, to $71.84 a barrel as of 0233 GMT, the highest level since September 2019. Brent rose 1.6% on Wednesday.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 44 cents, or 0.6%, to $69.27 a barrel. Prices rose to $69.32, the highest level since October 2018, after gaining 1.5% in the previous session.
Oil demand is predicted to exceed supply in the second half of 2021, which has caused prices to accelerate recently. Market forecasters, including the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, support this idea.
OPEC+ data shows that oil demand will be 99.8 million barrels per day against a supply of 97.5 million barrels per day at the end of the year.
This balance will be driven by a rebound from travel consumption this summer in the United States, the world's largest oil user, and increased fuel needs in China, the second largest oil consumer, and the United Kingdom.
The US driving season is a time of higher fuel consumption than usual. UK traffic is currently above pre-pandemic levels. A recovery in oil demand started to be seen, led by the USA, Europe and China.
OPEC+ confirmed on Tuesday to stick to its plans to relax supply restrictions through July. At the meeting, which was the fastest in the group's history, there was strong cohesion among the members and the belief that demand would increase as the COVID-19 outbreak showed signs of waning was high.
The slowdown in talks between the US and Iran over Iran's nuclear program has dampened expectations for Iranian oil supplies to return to the market this year.
The European Union envoy, who is coordinating the talks in Vienna to revive the 2015 nuclear deal that will lift US sanctions on Iran, believes an agreement will be reached in the next round of negotiations, which begins next week. However, some diplomats were worried that the difficulties remained, and a solution was no longer likely to be found.
