World oil prices rise

LONDON, July 10: Global oil prices hit another 14-month pinnacle on Wednesday on the back of tumbling US crude stockpiles that indicated keen demand in the world's biggest consumer, analysts said.
In afternoon deals, New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate for delivery in August, spiked to $105.99 per barrel -- a level last seen in early May 2012. It later stood at $105.49, up $1.96 from Tuesday's closing level.
Brent North Sea crude for August rallied to $108.69 a barrel -- reaching a high last seen in April 2013 -- before pulling back to $108.11, up 30 cents from Tuesday.The US government's Energy Information Administration (EIA) revealed that American oil stockpiles tumbled by 9.9 million barrels in the week to July 5.
That signalled a major pickup in energy demand and was more than triple market expectations for a 2.9m -barrel drop, according to analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires. Industry data from the American Petroleum Institute (API) released Tuesday had showed that US oil inventories tumbled by 9m barrels last week.
It has been two consecutive weeks now that sharp and unexpected drawdowns have been reported in US crude oil inventories by both the API and EIA, said GFT Markets oil analyst Fawad Razaqzada.
This clearly indicates demand has been stronger than was priced in, he told AFP.
New York's light sweet crude had already scaled 14-month highs Tuesday on expectations of tighter US oil stocks and Egypt-linked supply fears.
The Brent contract in particular is currently underpinned by the on-going situation in Egypt, noted Razaqzada.
Concerns over disruption in Middle East supply caused by Egyptian turmoil have meanwhile eased after a timetable for fresh polls was announced Tuesday following last week's military coup.