Oil extends rally to multi-year peaks as energy crunch bites | Reuters

Oil extends rally to multi-year peaks as energy crunch bites | Reuters

Oil prices extended gains to scale multi-year peaks on Monday, fuelled by the rebound in global demand that has also contributed to power and gas shortages in key economies like China.

Brent crude was up $1.39, or 1.7%, at $83.78 a barrel by 11:02 a.m. EDT (1502 GMT), after hitting its highest since October 2018 at $84.60 earlier in the session.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose $1.55, or 2%, to $80.90, after touching its highest since late 2014 at $82.18.

The pace of economic recovery from the pandemic, combined with cold weather have supercharged energy demand, coming at a time when pressure on governments to accelerate the transition to cleaner energy has slowed investment in oil projects.