Crude oil for November delivery climbed as high as $78.17 per barrel on Globex Friday afternoon in Tokyo -- the highest settlement level for a front-month contract since October 2008.
The contract was last up 34 cents at $77.92 after ending Thursday's New York Mercantile Exchange session with a gain of $2.40, or 3.2%, to $77.58. The contract has gained more than 11% from the Oct. 7 close of $69.57 in New York.
But in a note to clients Friday, analysts at Credit Suisse said the rally in crude prices is not fully supported by fundamentals, with demand in the U.S. still "lackluster."
They expect crude prices to revert back to their "familiar price range of $68-$75 in the coming days."
Looking further ahead, however, "demand for crude oil is likely to improve in the coming months, along with the pick up in U.S. economic activity, which should then pave the way for a more sustainable uptrend in crude-oil prices in 2010," the analysts said.
Adding support to oil prices Friday, gasoline inventories fell by 5.2 million barrels in the week ended Oct. 9, the Energy Information Administration reported Thursday. Analysts polled by Platts had expected a modest build-up. Gasoline production fell to 8.45 million barrels a day last week, the lowest level since last September. See Thursday's Futures Movers.
