Oil prices finished higher on Friday, with U.S. benchmark crude marking another finish at their highest since November and posting a third straight weekly gain. Warnings by the International Energy Agency and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries of a “potential market deficit,” have contributed to the rise in oil prices, said Han Tan, chief market analyst at Exinity Group. Although crude prices may be ripe for a technical pullback over the short term, oil benchmarks may yet take further strides towards the psychologically-important $100 level, “provided that global supply-demand dynamics truly warrant prices moving even higher.” October West Texas Intermediate crude
CLV23,
rose 61 cents, or 0.7%, to settle at $90.77 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That’s the highest front-month contract finish since Nov. 7, with prices ending the week 3.7% higher, according to Dow Jones Market Data.