Oil surges to $70 a barrel on strong demand hopes

Prices firmed up today and are expected to stay elevated despite the possible return of Iranian crude to world markets 

Oil prices firmed up today, with Brent trading near $70 a barrel, underpinned by the bright outlook for fuel demand growth in the next quarter, while investors looked ahead to the OPEC+ meeting this week to see how producers will respond.

Brent touched a session high of $69.82, while US West Texas Intermediate crude was at $66.87 a barrel, up 55 cents, or 0.8%.