Oil prices on Thursday hit fresh two-and-a-half year highs and were at levels last seen at the start of the commodity slump in 2014-15, with markets tightening amid tensions in Iran and due to ongoing Opec-led production cuts.
Prices were also buoyed by Asia's stock markets, which flirted with 10-year highs on Thursday amid strong data from leading economies including the US, Japan and Germany.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at US$62.10 a barrel at 0445 GMT, up 47 cents, or 0.8 per cent, from their last close. They hit $62.14 shortly before, the highest level since May 2015.
Brent crude futures - the international benchmark for oil prices - were at $68.13 a barrel, up 29 cents, or 0.4 per cent, after hitting a May-2015 high of $68.16 shortly before.
Beyond a brief intraday spike in May, 2015, these were the highest crude price levels since December, 2014, at the start of the oil price downturn.
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Read more:
Moody's forecasts oil range of $40-$60 for 2018
S&P raises 2018 Brent oil price forecast on ongoing cuts and strong demand
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Freezing weather in the US has also spurred short-term demand, especially for heating oil.
"The market is clearly getting more bullish on oil as inventory levels get closer to the five-year average. Geopolitical uncertainty in Iran, Opec's third-largest producer, is also helping to support the price as citizens are again protesting the government," said William O'Loughlin, investment analyst at Australia' Rivkin Securities.
Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards have deployed forces to three provinces to put down anti-government unrest that has been ongoing for a week, their commander said on Wednesday.
In the US, crude oil inventories fell by 5 million barrels in the week to December 29 to 427.8 million barrels, industry group the American Petroleum Institute said on Wednesday.
Potentially undermining the trend towards tighter market conditions is US oil production, which has risen by almost 16 per cent since mid-2016, hitting 9.75 million barrels per day (bpd) at the end of last year.
Official US Energy Information Administration (EIA) storage and production data is due on Thursday.
Thank You for Banking with Us
Director: Laila Abbas
Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum
Rating: 4/5
The specs
Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now
Yemen's Bahais and the charges they often face
The Baha'i faith was made known in Yemen in the 19th century, first introduced by an Iranian man named Ali Muhammad Al Shirazi, considered the Herald of the Baha'i faith in 1844.
The Baha'i faith has had a growing number of followers in recent years despite persecution in Yemen and Iran.
Today, some 2,000 Baha'is reside in Yemen, according to Insaf.
"The 24 defendants represented by the House of Justice, which has intelligence outfits from the uS and the UK working to carry out an espionage scheme in Yemen under the guise of religion.. aimed to impant and found the Bahai sect on Yemeni soil by bringing foreign Bahais from abroad and homing them in Yemen," the charge sheet said.
Baha'Ullah, the founder of the Bahai faith, was exiled by the Ottoman Empire in 1868 from Iran to what is now Israel. Now, the Bahai faith's highest governing body, known as the Universal House of Justice, is based in the Israeli city of Haifa, which the Bahais turn towards during prayer.
The Houthis cite this as collective "evidence" of Bahai "links" to Israel - which the Houthis consider their enemy.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)
On sale: Now
Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
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The Rub of Time: Bellow, Nabokov, Hitchens, Travolta, Trump and Other Pieces 1986-2016
Martin Amis,
Jonathan Cape
Revival
Eminem
Interscope
Company%20Profile
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World ranking (at month’s end)
Jan - 257
Feb - 198
Mar - 159
Apr - 161
May - 159
Jun – 162
Currently: 88
Year-end rank since turning pro
2016 - 279
2015 - 185
2014 - 143
2013 - 63
2012 - 384
2011 - 883