Mubasher: Oil prices on Thursday maintained a firm level, moving towards a three-and-a-half-year high amid a tightening market and a stronger demand on the back of an unexpected decline in US crude inventories in the previous day.

Global benchmark Brent crudes traded at $79.36 per barrel (pb) on Wednesday, $0.8 higher than their last trading session, while US Nymex futures stood at $71.71 pb, adding $0.22 from their last traded prices. But by 7:27 am GMT, Nymex futures rose 0.42% to $71.79 pb, while Brent crudes gained 0.37% to $79.57 pb.

Brent is now heading to outpace $80 pb, helped by traders’ growing appetite as geopolitical risks are rising and an unexpected drop in US inventories, Australia and New Zealand Bank (ANZ) told Reuters.

Commercial crude inventories in the US (excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve) shed 1.4 million barrels to 432.4 million barrels in the week ended 11 May compared to the earlier week.

In the same vein, the US bank Morgan Stanely raised its expectations for Brent price to $90 pb by 2022 citing a steady pattern of increasing demand, according to the news agency.