Oil Prices Rise, US Crude Exceeds $80

Oil prices rose on Monday, continuing a trend that has been in place for weeks amid supply constraints from major producers and rising fuel demand as economies try to recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

Brent crude rose 81 cents, or 1%, reaching $83.20 a barrel, after rising nearly 4% last week.

American crude oil rose $1.15 or 1.5% to $80.5 a barrel, the highest level since late 2014, noting that it had already increased 4.6% until Friday.

Oil prices continue to rise as more vaccinated residents leave the lockdown, initiating economic activity. Consequently, Brent continued to rise for five weeks and US crude for seven weeks.

Coal and gas prices are also rising as international economies recover, which makes oil more attractive as a fuel for power production, thus resulting in these persistent increases.

“We believe crude oil prices will struggle to increase much higher this quarter, and we continue to expect them to decline gradually next year,” Carolyn Payne, chief commodity economist at Capital Economics, said in a memo.