Oil Bulls Win for 8th Week With Brent at $85; US, China Issues on Backburner By Investing.com – Investing.com

Oil Bulls Win for 8th Week With Brent at $85; US, China Issues on Backburner By Investing.com – Investing.com

© Reuters.

By Barani Krishnan

Investing.com - Oil bulls were on to an eight winning week on Friday as Brent hit $85 per barrel, nearing Wall Street’s $90 call, as strong U.S. retail sales and a rebounding stock market fed risk appetite despite exploding inflation.

News of China having cut crude oil import quotas for independent refiners and U.S. inventory data from Thursday pointing to a third straight weekly build in crude stockpiles were put on the backburner. 

In focus was a White House announcement on Friday that it will lift COVID-19 travel restrictions for fully vaccinated foreign nationals effective Nov. 8, in a development that should boost jet fuel demand. 

Also ringing in oil bulls’ ears were the International Energy Agency’s estimate on Thursday that the energy crunch would leave the global market short of 500,000 barrels per day — estimated by some to be as high as 700,000 bpd.

“It will take a trifecta of events to derail this oil price rally: OPEC+ unexpectedly boosts output, warm weather hits the northern hemisphere, and if the Biden administration taps the strategic petroleum reserves,” said Ed Moya, analyst at online trading platform OANDA.

By 1:00 PM ET (1700 GMT),