Hong Kong
Oil prices extended their recent rally in Asia Friday on hopes that increasing demand and a decline in US crude production would ease a supply glut that has depressed the market for more than a year.
The two main crude contracts hit a six-year low during the April-September quarter owing to a fears about an oversupply, China´s economic slowdown and expectations for a US interest rate rise.
However, they have surged recently as the US Federal Reserve shows signs it will hold off hiking rates -- a rise would strengthen the greenback, making dollar-priced oil more expensive -- while recent data from Beijing have soothed nerves.
And on Thursday Abdalla Salem El-Badri, secretary-general of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), said global demand is expected to rise more than projected this year, and next would see a further increase supported by "improvement in global economic activities".