Oil benchmarks settle at highest since 2014 on short supply | Reuters

Oil benchmarks settle at highest since 2014 on short supply | Reuters

Oil prices edged up to their highest since 2014 on Tuesday, supported by a global supply shortage and strong demand in the United States, the world's biggest consumer.

The rally came ahead of U.S. inventory reports from the American Petroleum Institute (API), an industry group, on Tuesday and the U.S. Energy Information Administration on Wednesday.

Analysts expect the latest weekly U.S. oil inventory data to show a 1.9 million-barrel build in crude stocks.

Brent futures rose 41 cents, or 0.5%, to settle at $86.40 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude ended 89 cents, or 1.1%, higher at $84.65.

Those were the highest closes for both global benchmarks since October 2014.