Brent oil rose to a three – year all time high of $80 but immediately dipped to $79.09 per barrel. This comes after five straight positive sessions.
The U.S oil benchmark, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell from 0.2% to $75.29per barrel, after hitting a high of $76.67, the highest since July. Both WTI and Brent are coming off five straight weeks of gain, and each is up more than 50% for 2021.
Oil benchmark prices have been apart, with fuel demand growing and traders expecting that major oil-producing nations will decide to keep supplies tight when the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) meets next week.
The market is faced with headwinds from a power crunch in China, the world’s biggest energy consumer.
Recent power rationing to industries in China to drive emissions could weigh on economic activity, potentially offsetting the tailwind from incremental diesel use in power generation.
OPEC forecasts that oil demand will grow sharply in the next few years as economies recover from the pandemic, adding that the world needs to keep investing in production to avert a crunch even as it makes the transition to cleaner forms of energy.
