Crude oil prices rose on Tuesday, with Brent hitting $75 a barrel for the first time since April 2019, as investors remained bullish about a quick recovery in global oil demand and as concerns eased over an early return of Iranian crude.
Brent crude futures for August climbed 26 cents, or 0.4%, to $75.16 a barrel by 0400 GMT, paring earlier losses. It rose as high as $75.23 a barrel, the strongest since April 25, 2019, earlier in the session.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for July was at $73.70 a barrel, up 4 cents, or 0.1%. WTI for August climbed 11 cents, or 0.2%, to $73.23 a barrel. Brent gained 1.9% and WTI jumped 2.8% on Monday. Both benchmarks have risen for the past four weeks on optimism over the pace of global COVID-19 vaccinations and expected pick-up in summer travel.
The rebound has pushed up spot premiums for crude in Asia and Europe to multi-month highs. “The market sentiment stays strong with improved outlook for global demand,” said Satoru Yoshida, a commodity analyst with Rakuten Securities, adding that a rally in Asian stock markets is also helping boost risk appetite among investors.
