Oil prices settled at their highest level in five months Thursday as the US dollar weakened and a series of reports predicted a tightening market as fuel demand increases. The International Energy Agency (IEA) revised upward its 2017 global oil demand growth forecast by 100,000 barrels per day to 1.6 million b/d in its September Monthly Oil Market Report released Wednesday, saying the global oil glut was shrinking. But the contraction was slow and mainly thanks to strong European and US demand rather than the Opec/non-Opec deal to cut production. The IEA left its 2018 demand forecast unchanged whereas producer group Opec hiked its demand outlook for next year in an early report published Tuesday. International benchmark Brent closed at $55.47 per barrel Thursday, up $1.07/bbl on the week and its highest settlement in five months since Apr. 13. Brent has gained more than $10/bbl in the last three months. US price-pin WTI gained 80￠/bbl to close at $49.89/bbl, its highest since Jul. 31, having briefly gone above $50/bbl in intra-day trade. Prices barely flinched as Wednesday’s Energy Information Administration data drop showed a large build in US crude inventories and falling product tanks in the wake of Tropical Storm Harvey. US crude tanks jumped 5.9 million bbl in the week ending Sep. 8, following the closure of more than 4.3 million b/d of Gulf Cost refining capacity at Harvey’s peak. Gasoline tanks plunged 8.4 million bbl and distillate stocks dropped 3.2 million bbl to 144.6 million bbl. Around 1.5 million b/d of US refining capacity was still shut in Wednesday with 2.1 million b/d in the process of restarting or operating at reduced rates.
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