SINGAPORE: Oil prices firmed on Thursday, with Brent crude creeping ever closer to $80 per barrel, a level it has not seen since November 2014, as supplies tighten while demand remains strong.
Brent crude futures were at $79.36 per barrel at 0451 GMT, up 8 cents from their last close.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $71.71 a barrel, up 22 cents, or 0.3 percent, from their last settlement.
U.S. crude inventories dropped by 1.4 million barrels in the week to May 11, to 432.34 million barrels.
EVERYTHING BULLISH?
Not all indicators pointed to a tighter market, however.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Wednesday that it had lowered its global oil demand growth forecast for 2018 from 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) to 1.4 million bpd.
The IEA said global oil demand would average 99.2 million bpd in 2018.
And although supplies currently only stand at 98 million bpd due to supply cuts led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the IEA said, “strong non-OPEC growth … will grow by 1.87 million bpd in 2018.”
Leading production increases is the United States, where crude output C-OUT-T-EIA has soared by 27 percent in the last two years, to a record 10.72 million bpd.
That puts the United States within reach of top producer Russia, which pumps around 11 million bpd.
As a result of its surging production, U.S. crude is increasingly appearing on global markets.
