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Brent crude was up 92 cents or 1.2% at $79.01 a barrel by 1100
GMT, having posted three straight weeks of gains. U.S. Oil added
82 cents, or 1.1%, to $74.80, near its highest since July, after
rising for a fifth straight week last week.
Goldman Sachs raised by $10 its forecast for Brent crude at the
end of this year to $90 per barrel, as faster fuel demand
recovery from the outbreak of the Delta variant of the
coronavirus and Hurricane Ida's hit to U.S. production led to
tight global supplies.
"While we have long held a bullish oil view, the current global
supply-demand deficit is larger than we expected, with the
recovery in global demand from the Delta impact even faster than
our above-consensus forecast and with global supply remaining
short of our below consensus forecasts," Goldman said.
Caught short by the demand rebound, members of the Organization
of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies, known as
OPEC+, have had difficulty raising output as under-investment or
maintenance delays persist from the pandemic.
"Price support came courtesy of U.S. supply tightness as
disruptions in the Gulf of Mexico spurred inventory draws," said
Stephen Brennock of oil broker PVM.
The European crude benchmark was also buoyed by gains across the
broader energy complex, he added.
"Surging natural gas prices fuelled rumours that it could boost
demand for alternative fuels, including oil."
India's oil imports hit a three-month peak in August, rebounding
from nearly one-year lows touched in July, as refiners in the
second-biggest importer of crude stocked up in anticipation of
higher demand.
(Additioanl reporting by Aaron Sheldrick; Editing by Kirsten
Donovan and Louise Heavens)
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