Oil prices made further advancements on Friday after consumer spending results showed that the demand for crude oil may rise more. WTI crude future rose by 0.95 percent to USD $ 113.93 a barrel, while Brent future rose by 0.70 percent to USD $ 125.89 a barrel.
Data released by the Commerce Department showed that consumer spending in the US in March rose by 0.6 percent. Equities also showed stronger earnings, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average increasing by 0.4 percent. Coupling these two factors with the Dollar Index dropping for a ninth consecutive day meant that there seems to be healthy demand for oil at the moment. The Energy Information Agency(EIA) predicted that the demand for oil in the US is forecasted to increase by 1.1 percent to 19.4 million barrels per day.
Oil output from OPEC fell by 0.3 percent to 28.43 million barrels per day in April, a 22-month low owing to the break in oil supply from Angola and Libya. This decrease in supply, along with healthy demand for oil at the moment, explains the increase in the price of oil.