Oil prices have been elevated into the end of the week and WTI ended up some 0.1% at $73.23 in the New York session. Spot travelled from a low of $72.35 to a high of $73.58, close to its highest levels in almost three years where the price consolidates in Asia so far, at $73.25. A drawdown in US inventories and accelerating German economic activity has underpinned the black gold for a fifth consecutive day of higher closes. In futures markets, both Brent and WTI contracts benchmarks hit their highest since October 2018. Meanwhile, in data overnight, Germany showed the largest upward leap in retail conditions since ... (full story)