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Global oil prices held firm on Friday, with Brent crude up by more than 10 per cent from its December lows on the back of political tensions in OPEC-member Iran and a tightening US market.
US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were at $61.95 a barrel at 0151 GMT, 5 cents below their last close but not far off the $62.21 May 2015 high reached the previous day, reports Reuters.
Brent crude futures were at $68.03 a barrel, 4 cents below their last settlement, but not far off the $68.27 high from the day before, also the highest since May 2015.
Beyond a brief intraday spike in May 2015, these were the highest price levels since December 2014, during the oil price downturn.
Traders said political tensions in oil producing Iran were supporting prices.
Oil prices have been supported by production cuts led by the Middle East dominated OPEC and by Russia, which started in January last year and are set to last through 2018, as well as by strong economic growth and financial markets.
This has helped tighten markets. US Commercial crude inventories C-STK-T-EIA fell by 7.4 million barrels in the week to Dec. 29, to 424.46 million barrels, according to data from the Energy Information Administration.
That’s down 20 per cent from their historic peaks last March and close to the five-year average of 420 million barrels.