TOKYO- Crude oil prices rose on Tuesday, with Brent hitting $75 a barrel for the first time since April 2019, as investors remained bullish about a quick recovery in global oil demand and as concerns eased over an early return of Iranian crude.
Brent crude futures for August climbed 26 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $75.16 a barrel, paring earlier losses. It rose as high as $75.23 a barrel, the strongest since April 25, 2019, earlier in the session.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for July was at $73.70 a barrel, up 4 cents, or 0.1 percent. WTI for August climbed 11 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $73.23 a barrel.
Brent gained 1.9 percent and WTI jumped 2.8 percent on Monday.
Both benchmarks have risen for the past four weeks on optimism over the pace of global COVID-19 vaccinations and expected pick-up in summer travel. The rebound has pushed up spot premiums for crude in Asia and Europe to multi-month highs.
“The market sentiment stays strong with improved outlook for global demand,” said Satoru Yoshida, a commodity analyst with Rakuten Securities, adding that a rally in Asian stock markets is also helping boost risk appetite among investors.
