LONDON Global oil prices hit a 15-month high point on Thursday,
boosted by signs of strengthening demand in top consumer the United
States and ongoing supply fears linked to violence in Egypt, dealers
said.
New York’s main contract, West Texas Intermediate for delivery in August, spiked to $107.45 a barrel -- a level last seen in late March 2012. It later stood at $106.02, down 50 cents from Wednesday’s closing level.
Brent North Sea crude for August rallied to $108.93 a barrel -- reaching a high last seen in early April 2013 -- before pulling back to $108.20, down 31 cents from Wednesday.
Crude futures had already scored multi-month highs on Wednesday after the US Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) weekly crude stockpiles data indicated a major pickup in energy demand.
The EIA said crude-oil stockpiles tumbled by 9.9 million barrels in the week ended July 5. That was more than triple the 2.9-million-barrel drop expected by analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires, and followed the prior week’s drop of nearly 10 million barrels.
Added to the picture, traders remain deeply concerned over potential disruption in Middle East supply following the overthrow last week of Egypt’s president Mohamed Mursi.
“The spike in oil is driven by three things; optimism over improving economic conditions in the United States, fears of escalation in Egytian unrest, and lower US inventory levels,” said analyst Ishaq Siddiqi at trading firm ETX Capital.
New York’s main contract, West Texas Intermediate for delivery in August, spiked to $107.45 a barrel -- a level last seen in late March 2012. It later stood at $106.02, down 50 cents from Wednesday’s closing level.
Brent North Sea crude for August rallied to $108.93 a barrel -- reaching a high last seen in early April 2013 -- before pulling back to $108.20, down 31 cents from Wednesday.
Crude futures had already scored multi-month highs on Wednesday after the US Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) weekly crude stockpiles data indicated a major pickup in energy demand.
The EIA said crude-oil stockpiles tumbled by 9.9 million barrels in the week ended July 5. That was more than triple the 2.9-million-barrel drop expected by analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires, and followed the prior week’s drop of nearly 10 million barrels.
Added to the picture, traders remain deeply concerned over potential disruption in Middle East supply following the overthrow last week of Egypt’s president Mohamed Mursi.
“The spike in oil is driven by three things; optimism over improving economic conditions in the United States, fears of escalation in Egytian unrest, and lower US inventory levels,” said analyst Ishaq Siddiqi at trading firm ETX Capital.
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