Oil futures rise past $97 on the prospects for demand - MarketWatch

Virginia Harrison Myra P. Saefong, MarketWatch SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - crude oil futures climbed Tuesday to mark their more high end in three weeks after a brokerage raised goals for next year oil price and forecast continued strong growth in global demand.

Optimism about the US economy and the possibilities for tightening regulations inside oil also added support for oil.

/ quotes/Zigman/2075824 CL1Q 96.89, + 1.95 to 2.05 %

Crude oil for August delivery/quotes/zigman/2075824 CL1Q + 2.05% increased from $1.95, or 2.1%, to close at $96.89 US per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after tapping a maximum of $97.48. Prices marked their highest closing since June 14.

For 2012, Barclays Capital raised its forecast for gross by $10 to $115 a barrel, Brent and his Nymex forecast by $4, $ 110.

Barclays said its forecasts of supply and demand of 2012 "show a continuation of robust demand from emerging markets," global demand for oil should grow by 1.38 million barrels per day and non-OECD demand increased from 1.57 million barrels per day.

The main sources of growth in demand in 2012 should be China, the India, Saudi Arabia and the Brazil, Barclays said in a research Tuesday note.

"The forecast price basically includes potential supply interruptions as a risk premium," said James Williams, an economist with the energy to WTRG Economics.

The oil market has only 3.5 million barrels per day of spare capacity at the global level, with most of it in Saudi Arabia, according to Williams. If "market concern with respect to the alternative than low ability, there is a further interruption of supply, particularly in the Middle East," he said.

And now, "you cannot be sure in any country that supplies be interrupted"right, he said."".

Barclays trimmed also 6 of the WTI 2011 estimate, $ $ 100 the barrel, "but it is only in large part an admission that the market had already priced that they had overestimated this year, said Matt Parry, KBC Energy Economics Chief Economist.

Potential "-oil humps demand" in the second half of the year have been eliminated, said Dan Morrison, Managing Director and senior analyst of exploration and production in Global Securities Hunter.

"The Greek debt crisis seems to continue to move slowly towards a free resolution of default and points of modestly positive economic news to a continued modest economic growth", he said.

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"The market is also looking at seasonal peak in January and has concerns about the availability of reserve capacity to respond to this", he said.