Oil prices extend gains to multi-year highs on tight supply | Reuters

Oil prices extend gains to multi-year highs on tight supply | Reuters

Oil prices extended pre-weekend gains on Monday to hit multi-year highs, lifted by tight global supply and strengthening fuel demand in the United States and beyond as economies recover from pandemic-induced slumps.

Brent crude futures rose by 64 cents, or 0.8%, to $86.17 a barrel by 1105 GMT, following on from last Friday's 1.1% gain. Earlier on Monday they touched $86.43, the highest price since October 2018.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 75 cents, or 0.9%, to $84.51 a barrel after gaining 1.5% on Friday. They hit their highest since October 2014 at $84.76 earlier on Monday.

Both benchmarks closed last week with slight gains despite rising numbers of coronavirus cases in the United Kingdom and Eastern Europe, signalling a potentially difficult winter ahead.