By Gina Lee
Investing.com - Oil maintained its high after the week kicked off with U.S. crude reaching a seven-year high, showing that global supply that remains tight even as fuel demand rises.
Brent Oil Futures edged up 0.14% to $85.29 by 10:40 PM ET (2:40 AM GMT) and WTI Futures edged up 0.02% to $83.78.
The onset of the northern winter has many anticipating a demand rising, even though government intervention has kept China’s power and coal markets under control so far.
"Forecasts for a colder November have energy traders bracing for a very tight market that will be met (with) unprecedented demand this winter," stated Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA, in a note.
"This oil market will remain tight and that should mean a headline or two away from $90 oil," he added.
Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) anticipates that the Brent is likely to go beyond the year-end forecast of $90 a barrel, as switching from gas to oil may add 1 million barrels per day (bpd) to oil demand.
After over a year of depressed demand in the US, gasoline and distillate consumption is back in line with five-year averages.
U.S. inventory levels are expected to go up this week. Crude oil stockpiles are predicted to have gone up by 1.7 million barrels last week, according to a Reuters poll of analysts. But gasoline and distillate inventories are expected to fall.