Investing.com - U.S. oil moved sharply higher on Friday, despite news of rising U.S. stockpiles last week, as remarks by the International Energy Agency continued to lend support.
U.S. crude futures for March delivery were up 1.04% at $52.68 a barrel, the highest since January 17.
On the ICE Futures Exchange in London, the March Brent contract jumped 1.13% to trade at $54.77 a barrel.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report on Thursday that crude oil inventories jumped by 2.347 million barrels in the week ending January 13. Market analysts' had expected a crude-stock draw of 0.342 million barrels
But oil prices remained supported after the IEA said on Thursday that world oil markets are slowly tightening as demand rises.
In its monthly oil market report, the IEA said output cuts announced by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and 11 non-OPEC producers in November had "entered their probation period".
January 1 marked the official start of the deal agreed by OPEC and non-OPEC member countries such as Russia in November last year to reduce output by almost 1.8 million barrels per day.
If carried out as planned, the deal should reduce global supply by about 2%.
Market participants were also eyeing Donald Trump’s inauguration speech, scheduled later in the day, amid sustained uncertainty over the new U.S. administration’s fiscal and economic policies.