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Oil up $1.50/bbl as demand recovery seen tightening supply

Oil prices rose about $1.50 a barrel on Thursday, extending gains made in the previous three sessions on expectations of tighter supplies through 2021 as economies recover from the coronavirus crisis.

Brent crude settled at $73.79 a barrel, up $1.56, or 2.2%, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) settled at $71.91 a barrel, rising $1.61, or 2.3%.

"The death of demand was greatly exaggerated," said Phil Flynn, senior analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago. "Demand is not going away, so we're back looking at a very tight market."

But as demand was still set to outstrip supply in the second half of the year, Morgan Stanley forecast that global benchmark Brent will trade in the mid to high-$70s per barrel for the remainder of 2021.

Reference: Reuters