Crude oil futures rise after bullish forecast, Fed minutes 

• U.S. crude rises to above $50 a barrel
• Brent crude on track for near 12-pct weekly rise
• Influential forecaster predicts market rally (Updates prices, adds comment)

Crude futures rose in early Asian trade, with U.S. oil climbing above $50 a barrel, after an influential forecaster predicted that a market rally was not far off and U.S. Federal Reserve minutes suggested there was no hurry to raise rates.

The gains added to a surge in prices on Thursday, with Brent crude, the global benchmark, on track for a near 12-percent advance this week, the biggest weekly rise since early 2009.

Brent was up 82 cents at $53.87 a barrel at 0459 GMT. The contract rose $1.72 to close at $53.05 a barrel on Thursday.

U.S. crude was $1 higher at $50.43 a barrel, after climbing 3.4 percent to close at $49.43 a barrel. The contract rose as far as $50.49, the highest since July 22.

“The price is really testing both the 100-day and 200-day moving averages,” said Mark Pervan, senior commodity strategist at ANZ in Melbourne.

“The next level is … nearly $51, so I think you might see a bit of technical trading here to see if they can push through that resistance level,” he said, adding that resistance could be strong.

He also noted that seasonal demand was starting to pick up.

U.S. crude is heading for a gain of near 11 percent this week, its biggest weekly increase since August.

PIRA Energy Group, a closely watched forecaster that predicted the slump in oil prices a year ago, said on Thursday it expected crude prices to rise to $70 per barrel by the end of 2016 and $75 a barrel in 2017.

Also supporting prices was the release of the Fed minutes, which showed that policymakers are concerned that the global economic slowdown may affect the outlook for the U.S.

This led investors to further pare bets that the Fed is likely to raise rates later rather than sooner.

Gains in Chinese equities on Thursday, opening after a week long National Day holiday, added to the bullish tone, while Russia’s military involvement in Syria has brought a geopolitical risk premium into the market.

Source: Reuters – Crude oil futures rise after bullish forecast, Fed minutes

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