Sharjah24 – Reuters: Oil futures rose on Tuesday and were near multi-year highs as an energy supply crunch continued across the globe, while falling temperatures in China revived concerns over whether the world's biggest energy consumer can meet domestic heating needs.
The Brent crude benchmark rose 75 cents to settle at $85.08 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures rose 52 cents to settle at $82.96 a barrel.
Prices have been climbing the last two months. Since the start of September, Brent has risen by about 19%, while WTI has gained around 21%.
"Supply-demand balances show that the market is experiencing a supply deficit, which is spurring deep inventory draws and driving prices upwards," said Louise Dickson, senior oil markets analyst at Rystad Energy. "This market tightness is expected to extend into most of 2022, and crude oil supply will only catch up with crude demand by the fourth quarter of next year."
With temperatures falling as the Northern Hemisphere winter approaches and heating demand increasing, prices of oil, coal and natural gas are likely to remain elevated, traders and analysts said.
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