Oil Prices Rise to Highest Level in a Week

Oil prices rose on Thursday to their highest level in about a week, maintaining an upwards trend for the third consecutive session.

Despite concerns about the resurgence of the coronavirus with the spread of the Delta variant, crude futures seem to be supported by positive expectations for demand recovery during the second half of the year.

Markets are shrugging off concerns about production policy after the OPEC+ alliance reached an agreement on gradually raising output levels, further easing previous cuts from August to December.

Brent Crude futures for September delivery increased by $1.56, or 2.16%, to settle at $73.79 per barrel.

Meanwhile, the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures for September delivery added $1.61, or 2.29%, to finish at $71.91 a barrel.

This is the highest closing value for the global and U.S. crude benchmarks since July 14.