Brent Crude trades above $84 per barrel
Brent Crude futures hovered 2-month highs above $84 per barrel on Thursday, supported by tight supply and easing concerns about the potential hit to demand from the omicron variant.
The US crude inventories fell to their lowest level since 2018 by 4.6 million barrels last week to 413.3 million barrels, much more than market expectations for a 1.9-million-barrel drop.
Global supply also remained tight as major producers struggled to increase output, with several OPEC member countries experiencing technical difficulties which prevented them from hitting their quotas.
Moreover. the US Energy Information Administration raised its US oil demand forecast to an 840,000 bpd increase in 2022, from a previous forecast of a rise of 700,000 bpd.
Brent Crude oil is a major benchmark price for purchases of oil worldwide. While Brent Crude oil is sourced from the North Sea the oil production coming from Europe, Africa and the Middle East flowing West tends to be priced relative to this oil.
Source: Trading Economics