WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Crude oil futures settled modestly higher on Friday, lifted by the International Energy Agency's forecast that global crude demand will grow to a record 101.9 million barrels per day this year.
West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended higher by $0.36 or about 0.4% at $82.52 a barrel.
Brent crude futures were up $0.16 or 0.19% at $86.25 a barrel a little while ago.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its monthly oil market report that oil demand will grow by 2 million barrels per day in 2023, driven mostly by stronger Chinese consumption after the lifting of COVID restrictions.
The IEA expects supply to remain tight, and sees a drop of 400,000 barrels per day by the end of the year.
Earlier this week, data from China showed that the world's second largest economy saw its crude oil imports rise by 12.4 million barrels per day in March, up from 10.7 million barrels in February. The March volume was the largest since June 2020.
Data from Baker Hughes showed the total number of total active drilling rigs in the United States fell by 3 this week, after falling 4 last week.
The total rig count fell to 748 this week. Oil rigs dropped by 2 this week to 588, while gas rigs fell by 1 to 157.
Copyright(c) 2023 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX