Crude oil futures prices hit their highest closing price since March on Wednesday in the early morning Beijing time. Oil prices have been boosted by the optimistic demand outlook for the second half of 2021 and the decline in US crude oil inventories.

Traders are also watching gasoline shortages in the southeastern United States. Colonial Pipeline is currently repairing an important pipeline system for transporting oil products locally.

The (IEA) of the International Energy Agency said in its monthly report that the crude oil glut that occurred after the outbreak, which led oil-producing countries to cut production, had basically returned to normal.

IEA cut its demand growth forecast for 2021, reflecting weaker-than-expected demand in the first half of the year. However, the agency maintained its forecast for demand growth in the second half of the year and said it predicted that global crude oil demand would basically return to its pre-epidemic level by the end of the year.

Prior to that, the monthly report released by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting countries ((OPEC)) on Tuesday maintained the outlook for demand growth in 2021.

The US Energy Information Administration ((EIA)) reported on Wednesday that the average daily demand for automotive gasoline products, a measure of crude oil demand in the US, was 8.9 million barrels a day in the past four weeks, up 41 per cent from the same period last year.

On Wednesday, (WTI) futures for June delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 80 cents, or 1.2%, to close at $66.08 a barrel, the highest closing price since March.

London Intercontinental ExchangeBrent crude for July delivery rose 77 cents, or 1.1%, to close at $69.32 a barrel, also the highest closing price since March.