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West Texas Intermediate crude futures, the U.S. oil benchmark, crossed $80 per barrel on Friday for the first time since November 2014 as demand rebounds while supply remains tight.
The U.S. oil benchmark jumped more than 2% to trade as high as $80.09 on Friday. Brent crude, the international benchmark, advanced 1.7% to $83.32 per barrel.
Oil prices have surged in recent days alongside a broader rally in commodities including natural gas and coal amid an energy crunch that’s sweeping Europe and Asia.
WTI is on track for its seventh straight positive week, its longest weekly winning streak since December 2013. For the year both WTI and Brent are now up more than 60%.
“In what has been another blockbuster week, oil prices are rising further as the global energy supply tightness squeezes fuel availability,” Louise Dickson, senior oil markets analyst at Rystad Energy said Friday.
Oil prices got a boost at the start of the week after OPEC and its allies opted to stick to a prior agreement to raise production by a modest 400,000 barrels per day in November despite the recent fuel shortage.
