Brent crude futures nudged 17 cents higher to $86.48 a barrel by 0144 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $82.66 a barrel, up 14 cents.
Both contracts notched their fourth weekly gains last week after the International Energy Agency (IEA) forecast record demand in 2023 of 101.9 million barrels per day (bpd), up 2 million bpd on last year.
However, the IEA warned in its monthly report that the output cuts announced by OPEC+ producers risk exacerbating an oil supply deficit expected in the second half of the year and could hurt consumers and a global economic recovery.
Rising costs for Middle East crude supplies, which meet more than half of Asia’s demand, are already squeezing refiners’ margins, prompting them to secure supplies from other regions.
Refiners are also ramping up gasoline output ahead of peak summer demand while cutting diesel production amid worsening margins.
Meanwhile, oil exports from northern Iraq to the Turkish…
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