Supply worries support oil

Tokyo — Oil prices rose for a fifth consecutive day on Monday with Brent heading for $80 amid supply concerns as parts of the world sees demand pick up with the easing of pandemic conditions.

Brent crude was up $1.14, or 1.5%, at $79.23 a barrel by 2.08am GMT, having risen a third consecutive week. US Oil added $1.11 or 1.5% to $75.09, its highest since July, after rising for a fifth consecutive week last week.

“Supply tightness continues to draw on inventories across all regions,” ANZ Research said in a note.

Rising gas prices as also helping drive oil higher as the liquid becomes relatively cheaper for power generation, ANZ analysts said in the note.

Caught short by the demand rebound, members of oil cartel Opec and their allies, known as Opec+, have had difficulty raising output as underinvestment or maintenance delays persist from the pandemic.

China’s first public sale of state oil reserves has barely acted to cap gains as PetroChina and Hengli Petrochemical bought four cargoes totalling about 4.43-million barrels.

India’s oil imports hit a three-month peak in August, rebounding from nearly one-year lows reached in July, as refiners in the second-biggest importer of crude stocked up in expectation of higher demand.

Reuters