• Western Texas Intermediate (WTI ) starts the new trading session with stronger gains.
• Crude oil approaches a new 7-year high near $83.00 amid a shortage of gas and coal.
• OPEC launches price war against US shale producers.

Western Texas Intermediate (WTI) is scaling higher in the Asian session on Monday. The supply crunch and global demand upsurge boost the demand for black gold.  At the time of writing, WTI is trading at $82.60, up 0.83% for the day.

Crude oil prices hit a fresh seven-year high as shortages of natural gas in Europe and Asia continue to boost demand for oil amid supply-side bottlenecks.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the energy crunch is expected to uplift oil demand by 500,000 barrels per day (bpd). This, in turn, will results in a supply gap of around 700,000 bpd through the end of the year.

In addition to that, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) begins a price war against the US shale producers. Furthermore, the demand has picked up with the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic amid the easing of coronavirus-related travel restrictions.

As for now, the US dollar dynamics and the demand-supply constraint continue to influence WTI prices.

WTI additional levels