Oil prices rose significantly again on Wednesday.
The price of a barrel (159 liters) of North Sea Brent rose to $ 72.83, and a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) peaked at $ 70.62.
While Brent reached its highest level in a good two years, the WTI price rose not only to the highest level since October 2018, but also wiser above the $ 70 mark for the first time.
Crude oil prices were supported by inventory data from the USA.
According to figures from the American Petroleum Institute (API) late Tuesday evening, the country's crude oil inventories have plummeted over the past week.
In the afternoon, the government publishes its weekly data, which is used as a guide for short-term supply and demand.
In addition, a heat wave in the Middle East is causing higher energy consumption there.
The more relaxed Corona situation in many places, especially in the USA, China and large parts of Europe, has been providing a fundamental boost on the oil market for a long time.
In contrast, the situation in some Asian countries and many countries in South America is sometimes very tense.
On the other hand, there are delays in China in allocating purchase quotas to private refineries, which creates some uncertainty. A unit of China National Petroleum has even stopped supplying oil to independent processors in the course of tougher crackdowns by the authorities against private companies, reports the Bloomberg news agency.
According to the USA, progress has also been made in reviving the nuclear deal with Iran.
Should a deal actually be reached, the oil supply could increase.
Despite the positive situation on the demand side, analysts are cautious.
Warren Patterson, head of raw materials strategy for the ING Group in Singapore, told Bloomberg that it is difficult for him to believe that prices will continue to rise significantly, especially when you consider that OPEC + has free capacity of more than 6 million barrels a day.
The markets, however, seem to be planning differently for the near future.
Burns with a later delivery date is significantly cheaper than delivering up to oil at short notice.