06.02.202319:28:00UTC+00Oil Futures Settle Higher On Demand Hopes

Oil prices climbed higher on Monday amid optimism energy demand from China will see a significant increase.

Reports about Saudi Arabia unexpectedly increasing the prices of oil that will be shipped to Asia contributed significantly to the positive close of the contract.

West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March ended higher by $0.72 or about 1% at $74.11 a barrel.

Brent crude futures were up $1.28 or about 1.6% at $81.22 a barrel a little while ago.

A report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) says about half of this year's global oil demand growth will come from China.

Oil prices were also supported by concerns about supply following a major earthquake in Turkey forcing an oil terminal in Ceyhan to shut down.