OPEC is predicting record oil demand in 2018, reports Egypt Oil & Gas.

Demand for crude oil will rise to 97.8 million barrels per day (b/d), an increase of 1.28 million b/d or 1.3% from 2017, according to OPEC’s August report.

OPEC also reported better than expected demand in the second quarter of 2017 and revised its growth prediction for 2017, increasing it by 100 thousand b/d to 1.37 million b/d. This growth was driven by OECD demand.

Crude-oil inventories in the US fell by 6.5 million barrels last week, according the latest report by the Energy Information Administration and reported by Reuters.

Crude-oil prices rose slightly on Friday. Brent crude rose $0.20 to $52.10 a barrel, an increase of 0.39%, and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose $0.23 to $48.82, an increase of 0.47%, reports Reuters.

US energy producers continue to expand. Between August 4th and August 11th, the rig count in the US increased by three to 768, according to Baker Hughes.