Oil Poised for Third Weekly Gain as Traders Brace for $100 Crude

(Bloomberg) — Oil is poised for a third weekly gain as energy giants to Wall Street banks predict the return of $100 crude on fears over an impending supply crunch.

Futures in New York were little changed, on course for a weekly advance of 2 percent. Oil and gas major Total SA (PA:) Chief Executive Officer Patrick Pouyanne said a supply loss in Iran and declining output in Venezuela may help push prices back into levels last seen in 2014. Meanwhile, the U.S. government dismissed speculation it will release emergency crude reserves to temper prices.

Oil has risen to near four year highs after the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries showed little sign of immediately boosting production despite President Donald Trump’s demand to lower prices. Concerns over tightening supplies are growing as more and more buyers of Iranian crude shun purchases from the Islamic Republic, with U.S. sanctions set to take full effect in early November.

West Texas Intermediate for November delivery traded at $72.14 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up 2 cents, at 9:12 a.m. in Tokyo. The contract has climbed $1.35 this week. Total volume traded was about 70 percent below the 100-day average.

for November slipped 0.1 percent to $81.63 on the ICE Futures Europe exchange. The contract rose 3.6 percent this week. The global benchmark traded at a $9.48 premium to WTI.

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