Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

Oil Prices Hit Three-year High as COVID Restrictions Ease


Fri 15 Oct 2021 | 10:51 PM
Taarek Refaat

Oil prices settled at a three-year high above $85 a barrel on Friday, buoyed by expectations of a supply shortfall in the next few months as the easing of coronavirus-related travel restrictions boosted demand.

Brent crude futures rose 1%, to $84.86 a barrel. Prices touched their highest level since October 2018 at $85.10, posted a weekly rise of 3%, their sixth consecutive weekly gain.

The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures rose 1.2%, to $82.28 a barrel, after rising 3.5% during the week in its eighth consecutive weekly spike.

Demand surged with the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, with another batch of power generators switching from using expensive gas and coal to fuel oil and diesel.

US officials said that the country will lift travel restrictions for the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) for fully vaccinated foreign nationals starting November 8, which will boost demand for jet fuel.

A sharp decline in oil inventories in the US and OPEC is expected to keep global supplies tight.