Brent crude hits $80 a barrel in London

[thackney]

Brent crude hits $80 a barrel in London
https://www.chron.com/business/energy/article/Brent-crude-hits-80-a-barrel-in-London-12921864.php
May 17, 2018

Oil rose to $80 a barrel in London for the first time since 2014 as U.S. crude inventories fell and traders braced for the impact of renewed sanctions on OPEC member Iran.

Crude has rallied this month on concern that President Donald Trump's decision to quit an international accord with Iran and reimpose sanctions will strain global supplies just as markets are already tightening. The glut that had weighed on prices for the past three years has finally been eliminated, thanks to strong demand and output cuts by other producers in OPEC, the International Energy Agency said on Wednesday.

Oil's advance to $80 brings it to the level that OPEC's biggest member, Saudi Arabia, is reportedly seeking to cover the cost of weighty domestic spending commitments. However the IEA -- which advises oil-consuming nations -- has warned that prices are high enough to hurt consumption, and trimmed its forecasts for demand growth....

[thackney]

This Oil Rally Could Have Much Further To Go
https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2018/05/16/this-oil-rally-could-have-much-further-to-go/#7b4e74624f12
May 16, 2018

For more than a week now, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil has been trading north of $70 per barrel, a level we haven’t seen since November 2014. Gas prices are likewise trending up, as I’m sure you’ve noticed. According to the American Automobile Association (AAA), the average cost for a gallon of regular gas was $2.88 on May 15, up nearly 25 percent from a year ago.

This will inevitably push inflation up even higher. In April, consumer prices advanced 2.4 percent year-over-year, their fastest pace since February 2017....