Oil rises as natural gas prices jump to records

Oil prices rose on Thursday, for the second day in a row, rising near multi-year highs, thanks to record natural gas prices, but today's gains are curbed by a build in US crude inventories.

US crude rose 1.1% to $81.39 a barrel, after opening at $80.53, and hit a low at $80.43, and Brent crude rose 0.9% to $84.22 a barrel, after opening at $83.46, and hit a low at $83.20.

The US crude gained less than 0.1% yesterday, resuming gains after taking a pause due to profit-taking from a 7-year high of $82.15, and Brent crude rose 0.2%, near its 3-year high of $84.58 a barrel.

Oil prices are rising due to growing fears over a market deficit, especially after OPEC Plus alliance's recent decision to keep its current production policy without any new production hikes.

Meanwhile, global demand for oil is growing, especially due to the global shifting from gas to oil, after the recent record spike in natural gas prices.

The American Petroleum Institute reported in preliminary data that the US crude inventories rose 5.2 million barrels to 429 million barrels during the week ending October 8, which is the highest level since the week ending September 3, while analysts forecast a rise by 0.7 million barrels.

The US Energy Information Administration's official data will be released later today, amid forecasts for inventories to drop by 1.1 million barrels.