Oil climbs

LONDON - - Oil prices kept rising to their highest since late 2014 as U.S. crude inventories declined, moving closer to five-year averages, and after sources told Reuters that top exporter Saudi Arabia aims to push prices even higher.

Brent crude futures LCOc1 reached $74.74 a barrel, the highest since November 27, 2014 — the day OPEC decided to pump as much as it could to defend market share, sending the price to a low of $27 just over a year later.

Brent futures came off slightly to $74.40 a barrel by 1316 GMT, still up 92 cents from the previous close. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were up 53 cents at $69.00. WTI had earlier hit $69.56, its highest since November 28. The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other major producers including Russia started to withhold output in 2017 to rein in oversupply that had depressed prices since 2014. OPEC and its partners will meet in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on April 20. OPEC will then meet on June 22 to review its oil production policy.

Reuters reported on Wednesday that top oil exporter Saudi Arabia would be happy for crude to reach $80 or even $100 a barrel, which was viewed as a sign that Riyadh will not seek changes to the supply pact. Since the start of the supply cuts, crude inventories have declined gradually from record highs towards long-term average levels. In the United States, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Wednesday that commercial crude stocks fell close to the five-year average of about 420 million barrels.