OIL PRICES: ABOVE $68

REUTERS, BLOOMBERG - Oil prices on Thursday hit their highest in more than two and a half years, touching levels not seen since before a slump in commodity markets in 2014/15, boosted by tensions in key producer Iran and by ongoing OPEC-led output cuts.

Prices were also buoyed by Asia's stock markets, which flirted with 10-year highs on Thursday amid strong data from leading economies including the United States, Japan and Germany.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were at $62.16 a barrel at 0752 GMT, up 53 cents, or 0.9 percent, from their last close. They touched $62.21 shortly before, their highest level since May 2015.

Brent crude futures LCOc1 - the international benchmark for oil prices - were at $68.23 a barrel, up 39 cents, or 0.9 percent, after revisiting a May 2015 high of $68.27 shortly before.

Beyond a brief intraday spike in May, 2015, these were the highest crude price levels since December, 2014, at the start of the oil price downturn.

Freezing weather in the United States has also spurred short-term demand, especially for heating oil.

"The market is clearly getting more bullish on oil as inventory levels get closer to the five-year average. Geopolitical uncertainty in Iran, OPEC's third largest producer, is also helping to support the price as citizens are again protesting the government," said by William O'Loughlin, investment analyst at Australia' Rivkin Securities.

Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards have deployed forces to three provinces to put down anti-government unrest that has been ongoing for a week, their commander said on Wednesday.

The unrest in Iran has not affected the country's oil output, however.

"The continued Iranian protests have triggered off a 'what if' reaction in an already extremely skittish oil market," said Sukrit Vijayakar, director at energy consultancy Trifecta.

He added that beyond potential strikes by Iranian oil workers, the risk of supply disruptions was low as "Iran's oil resources are not near any of the major population centres or sites where the protests are playing out.

In the United States, crude oil inventories fell by 5 million barrels in the week to Dec. 29 to 427.8 million barrels, industry group the American Petroleum Institute said on Wednesday.

Potentially undermining the trend toward tighter market conditions is U.S. oil production, which has risen by almost 16 percent since mid-2016, hitting 9.75 million barrels per day (bpd) at the end of last year.

"The market is clearly getting more bullish on oil as inventory levels get closer to the five-year average. Geopolitical uncertainty in Iran, OPEC's third largest producer, is also helping to support the price as citizens are again protesting the government," said by William O'Loughlin, investment analyst at Australia' Rivkin Securities.

Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards have deployed forces to three provinces to put down anti-government unrest that has been ongoing for a week, their commander said on Wednesday.

The unrest in Iran has not affected the country's oil output, however.

"The continued Iranian protests have triggered off a 'what if' reaction in an already extremely skittish oil market," said Sukrit Vijayakar, director at energy consultancy Trifecta.

He added that beyond potential strikes by Iranian oil workers, the risk of supply disruptions was low as "Iran's oil resources are not near any of the major population centres or sites where the protests are playing out.

In the United States, crude oil inventories fell by 5 million barrels in the week to Dec. 29 to 427.8 million barrels, industry group the American Petroleum Institute said on Wednesday.

Potentially undermining the trend toward tighter market conditions is U.S. oil production C-OUT-T-EIA, which has risen by almost 16 percent since mid-2016, hitting 9.75 million barrels per day (bpd) at the end of last year.

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Earlier:

2018, January, 3, 16:05:00 OIL PRICES: ABOVE $66 YET REUTERS - U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were at $60.50 a barrel at 1017 GMT, up 13 cents from their last close, though still not far off the $60.74 reached on the previous day that was the highest since June 2015. Brent crude futures LCOc1 - the international benchmark for oil prices - were at $66.74 a barrel, up 17 cents but still trailing Tuesday’s high of $67.29 that was the most since May 2015.

2017, December, 29, 11:45:00 OIL PRICES: ABOVE $66 AGAIN REUTERS - U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $60.30 a barrel at 0504 GMT, up 46 cents or 0.8 percent from their last close, the highest since June 2015. Brent crude futures - the international benchmark - were also up, rising 45 cents or 0.7 percent to $66.61 a barrel. Brent broke through $67 earlier this week for the first time since May 2015. Русский | English

2017, December, 27, 12:40:00 OIL PRICES: ABOVE $66 BLOOMBERG - Brent for February settlement lost 20 cents to $66.82 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. Prices climbed $1.77, or 2.7 percent, to $67.02 a barrel Tuesday, the highest close since May 2015. The global benchmark crude traded at a premium of $6.95 to WTI.

2017, December, 25, 20:45:00 OIL PRICES - 2018: VOLATILE The price of oil in 2018 will be volatile with commodity market traders selling on signals of OPEC-Russia “cheating” or members producing more oil than the extended Algiers Agreement output quotas.

2017, December, 22, 23:05:00 OIL PRICE: NOT ABOVE $65 REUTERS - U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $58.16 a barrel at 0755 GMT, down 20 cents, or 0.3 percent, from their last settlement. Brent crude futures, the international benchmark for oil prices, were at $64.81 a barrel, down 19 cents, or 0.1 percent. Русский | English

2017, December, 18, 12:35:00 INEVITABLE OIL CHANGES OPEC - Sustainable oil market stability is crucial to attract the level of investment necessary for future demand growth; In the longer term, oil will remain a vital and integral part of the energy mix; Global energy and oil demand will grow in the long term;

2017, December, 13, 12:30:00 OIL PRICE - 2018: $57 EIA - North Sea Brent crude oil spot prices averaged $63 per barrel (b) in November, an increase of $5/b from the average in October. EIA forecasts Brent spot prices to average $57/b in 2018, up from an average of $54/b in 2017.