West Texas Intermediate crude rose for a second day as the International Energy Agency boosted its demand forecast and on concern that tension in Ukraine will disrupt world energy supplies. Brent climbed above $108.
WTI trimmed the biggest weekly decline in two months. The IEA increased its forecast for 2014 global consumption by 95,000 barrels a day, citing economic growth. The U.S. and the European Union are threatening sanctions against Russia if it doesn’t back down from annexing Crimea, which is holding a referendum this weekend on whether to join Russia.
“The IEA report certainly helps the market,” said Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research in Winchester, Massachusetts. “It makes people more comfortable about demand. People are worried about the situation in Crimea.”
WTI for April delivery gained 30 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $98.50 a barrel at 12:10 p.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The volume of all futures traded was about 3.8 percent below the 100-day average. Prices are down 4 percent this week.
via Bloomberg
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