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Oil futures traded slightly higher Friday, remaining on track for weekly gains, on optimistic expectations for crude demand.
West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery
CL00,
CLN21,
rose 19 cents, or 0.3%, to $69 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. August Brent crude
BRN00,
BRNQ21,
the global benchmark, was up 14 cents, or 0.2%, at $71.45 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe. WTI was headed for a 4.1% weekly rise, while Brent was up 4%.
“Oil prices are finding tailwind from the clear signs that demand is making a solid recovery,” wrote analysts at Commerzbank, in a note.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, a group known as OPEC+, and the International Energy Agency are looking for oil demand to snap back. The IEA, which now sees demand back at pre-crisis levels in a year, had previously not expected that to happen until 2023, the analysts noted.
OPEC+ agreed earlier this week to proceed with a timetable that will see it continue to ease output curbs through July.
“If OPEC+ does not step up its supply any further after July, the oil market risks tightening noticeably in the second half of the year,” the Commerzbank analysts wrote.
