Oil prices to stay hot as upside factors pile on

Singapore

OIL prices could stay elevated, and some commodity experts do not rule out the possibility that crude benchmarks Brent and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) could hit US$80 and US$70 a barrel respectively this year - with the shocking move by the US to end Iranian crude sanction waivers worsening an already-tenuous oil supply crunch.

FXTM's analyst Lukman Otunuga said: "The fundamental themes in favour of higher oil prices are clearly stacking up their dominoes."

OCBC Bank economist Howie Lee expects oil prices to drift higher, with a target level of US$78…