Oil briefly hit $80 for the first time since 2014

• The price of Brent crude oil - the international benchmark - hit $80 per barrel for the first time since late 2014 on Thursday morning as the commodity's rapid price growth in 2018 continues unabated.
• Around 10.45 a.m. BST (5.45 a.m. ET) on Thursday Brent reached a daily high of $80.12 per barrel, marking the first time since November 2014 it has passed above that mark. By 11.oo a.m. BST (6.00 a.m. ET), oil is back below $80 to trade at $79.84, a gain of 0.71% on the day.
• West Texas Intermediate oil is trading at $72.13, a 0.82% gain.
• Oil's gains this week have been driven by news out of OPEC on Monday that it is cutting production by more than is required to do so under the terms of a 2017 agreement. The cartel also said its output rose slightly last month, mainly via Saudi Arabia, but raised its demand forecast for next year by 25,000 barrels per day to average 98.85 million barrels per day.
• Elsewhere, supply concerns have been mounting over the last week after President Donald Trump pulled the USA out of the Iran nuclear deal - a move that reimposes sanctions on Iranian oil.

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