For the first time since 2018, Brent crude on Friday topped $85 a barrel in London, the latest milestone in a global energy crisis that has seen prices soar.
Bloomberg reports that the global benchmark rose above the key level in intraday trading, but did not settle above it. U.S. crude futures posted an eighth straight weekly gain, the longest stretch of advances since 2015.
Crude has advanced this month in the wake of robust demand and limited supply.
China also issued a long-awaited new batch of quotas for its private refiners to buy more crude, further pushing up consumption. Yet, Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman reiterated this week the need for OPEC and its allies to take a gradual, phased approach to restoring output.
