Oil prices hit $80 a barrel on Thursday for the first time since November 2014.
Brent crude, the international benchmark against which Nigeria’s crude oil is set, briefly hit $80.18 before pulling back to trade up 57 cents at $79.67 per barrel, Reuters reported.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 41 cents at $72.30 a barrel, also their highest since November 2014.
As of Monday, Brent was up 20 cents at 77.32 dollars a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate rose 10 cents to 70.80 dollars.
Mohammed Barkindo, secretary general of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), attributed the development to efforts by OPEC and non-OPEC countries to re-balance the market through production freeze.
He said general, global inventories of crude oil and refined products dropped sharply in recent months owing to robust demand and OPEC-led production cuts.
“We have now been implementing this decision (declaration of cooperation) for the past 17 months with visible positive outcomes that have been widely acclaimed around the world,” Barkindo had said at the 22nd Oil & Gas Uzbekistan (OGU) conference on Wednesday.
Several banks have in recent days raised their oil price forecasts, citing tighter supplies and strong demand.
But high oil prices could hit consumption, the International Energy Agency warned on Wednesday, lowering its global oil demand growth forecast for 2018 to 1.4 million from 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd).
Asia’s demand is at record highs and with rising prices its crude could cost $1 trillion this year, about twice what it paid during the market lull of 2015/2016.
The IEA said global oil demand would average 99.2 million bpd in 2018, although U.S. bank Goldman Sachs said consumption would cross 100 million bpd “this summer’’.
TheCable
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