29.06.201814:54:00UTC+00Crude Oil Surges 20% In Second Quargter

The surge in crude oil prices continued Friday, marking a 20% year-to-date increase in crude oil prices.

WTI light sweet oil climbed 70 cents, or nearly 1%, to settle at $74.15/bbl. -- the highest in four years.

Prices have skyrocketed in June due to dwindling U.S. inventories and signs that OPEC will struggle to meet production quotas.

"We are in a very attractive oil price environment and our house view is that oil will hit $90 by the end of the second quarter of next year," Hootan Yazhari, head of frontier markets equity research at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, said.

"We are moving into an environment where supply disruptions are visible all over the world. and of course President Trump has been pretty active in trying to isolate Iran and getting U.S. allies not to purchase oil from Iran," he added.

Baker Hughes said the US oil rig count dropped for second week in a row.