Oil prices rose during early Thursday trading, amid OPEC's expectations of relatively strong growth in global demand for oil over the next two years and the disruption of some oil production operations in the United States due to cold weather.
Price action
By 0004 GMT, Brent crude futures rose 28 cents to $78.16 a barrel, and US West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 34 cents to $72.90.
OPEC said in a monthly report that global demand for oil will rise by 1.85 million barrels per day to 106.21 million barrels per day in 2025. For 2024, OPEC expects demand to grow by 2.25 million barrels per day, a forecast similar to the one it issued last month.
Meanwhile, the state of North Dakota said that temperatures that fell below zero caused oil production there to decline by between 650,000 and 700,000 barrels per day, less than half of usual production. North Dakota is one of the largest oil-producing states in the United States.
US government data on oil inventories is scheduled to be released later Thursday. According to figures from the American Petroleum Institute on Wednesday, local crude inventories rose by 480,000 barrels last week.
IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol told Reuters that the agency expects oil markets to be in a comfortable and balanced position this year, despite the tension in the Middle East amid increasing supplies and slowing demand growth expectations.
He made his remarks on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday.
