Oil surged to the highest in more than a year as the market looks ahead toward an accelerating decline in global inventories and a comeback in demand.
Futures in New York climbed 2.5% Wednesday, rising to the highest since January 2020. Energy Information Administration data showed crude output fell to 9.7 million barrels a day last week amid an unprecedented polar blast, tying for the low reached last summer when Hurricane Laura sent production plummeting.
Globally, supplies are declining with stockpiles at a major European storage hub falling to their lowest level since September. Key players in the oil market have been talking up the rising prices in the coming months, with some even floating the prospect of $100 crude in the next year or two as the global economy recovers from the pandemic.
