Oil prices rose further on Tuesday, with Brent, the global benchmark for more than half of all crude, reaching a three-year high as demand outstrips supply and stockpiles run low.

On Tuesday, Brent rose 0.88% to $80.23 per barrel, its highest level since 2018. Since the beginning of the year, the benchmark has gained nearly 55%. The US oil benchmark, West Texas Intermediate (WTI), climbed 0.93% to $76.15 per barrel, the highest level since July.

The recent increase in the global crude market comes as the economy continues to improve and major vaccination programmes are being carried out to combat the development of the more virulent COVID-19 Delta strain. Energy demand has increased as economies have opened up, and travel restrictions relating to COVID have been lifted.

On Monday, Goldman Sachs increased its Brent year-end projection from $80 to $90 per barrel. The investment bank said: “The current global supply-demand deficit is larger than we expected, with the recovery in global demand from the Delta impact even faster than our above-consensus forecast and with global supply remaining short of our below consensus forecasts.”

Natural gas prices have risen sharply, bolstering crude’s gain on the assumption that spill over demand will boost oil as customers look for alternatives. The price of natural gas has jumped 5.84% to $6.04 per metric million British thermal unit, the highest level since last month.

OPEC+ plans to return 2 million barrels per day to the market by the end of the year and will determine whether to add another 400,000 barrels per day in October. Producers, on the other hand, are failing to keep up with rising worldwide demand.