Oil prices climb on upgrade to IEA demand forecast | Reuters

Oil prices climb on upgrade to IEA demand forecast | Reuters

Oil prices rose by about 1% on Thursday after the International Energy Agency said that record natural gas prices would boost demand for oil and top oil producer Saudi Arabia dismissed calls for additional OPEC+ supply.

Brent crude futures gained 89 cents, or 1.1%, to $84.07 a barrel by 1204 GMT after falling 0.3% on Wednesday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures climbed 87 cents, or 1.1%, to $81.31, more than recouping the previous day's 0.3% decline.

Oil demand is set to jump by half a million barrels per day (bpd) as the power sector and heavy industries switch from other more expensive sources of energy, the IEA said, warning that the energy crunch could stoke inflation and slow the world's economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. read more

In its monthly report, the IEA increased its global oil demand growth forecast by 170,000 bpd to 5.5 million bpd for 2021 and by 210,000 bpd to 3.3 million bpd for 2022. The agency now expects total oil demand in 2022 to reach 99.6 million bpd, slightly above pre-pandemic levels.