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Brent crude was up 49 cents, or 0.6%, at $86.89 a barrel at 1118
GMT while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were
up 49 cents, or 0.6%, at $83.31.
Both benchmarks have been on a sustained rally since June, with
WTI trading on Thursday at its highest this year and Brent
hitting its highest since late January.
The IEA on Friday warned that global inventories could fall
sharply over the rest of 2023, potentially driving prices even
higher, though the agency expects demand growth to slow to 1
million barrels per day (bpd) in 2024, down 150,000 bpd from its
previous forecast.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) on
Thursday said it expects global oil demand to rise by 2.25
million bpd in 2024, compared with growth of 2.44 million bpd
this year. Both forecasts were unchanged from last month.
In 2024 "solid" economic growth amid continued improvements in
China is expected to boost oil consumption, it added.
"Demand is reassuringly upbeat," PVM oil analyst Tamas Varga
said. "These cheerful projections suggest that OPEC is sanguine
on global economic prospects."
Market sentiment was also lifted by Thursday's U.S. consumer
prices data for July, which fuelled speculation that the Federal
Reserve is nearing the end of its aggressive rate hike cycle.
On the supply side, prices have been supported by extensions to
output cuts by Saudi Arabia and Russia alongside supply fears
driven by the potential for conflict between Russia and Ukraine
to disrupt Russian oil shipments in the Black Sea region.
Mixed economic data from China weighed on sentiment, however.
While customs data showed crude imports up year on year, China's
overall exports plunged 14.5% in July, with monthly crude
imports retreating from June's near-record highs to their lowest
level since January.
Data this week also showed China's consumer prices fell into
deflation and factory gate prices extended declines in July,
raising concerns about fuel demand in the world's second-largest
economy.
(Reporting by Ahmad Ghaddar; additional reporting by Andrew
Hayley in Beijing; editing by David Goodman and Jason Neely)
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