Oil price rises above $50 a barrel

Data suggests global glut is easing due to fall in US output and supply disruption in Canada, Libya and Nigeria

Oil prices have broken through the $50 per barrel mark for the first time in almost seven months after storage figures suggested that the glut in global crude supplies was easing. Many analysts have predicted that the recovery, which will help the North Sea oil industry and could steady the global economy but hurt motorists through higher petrol costs, could be short-lived.

The price of Brent crude edged up 0.9% to $50.2 a barrel, boosted by data from the US government showing a sharper than expected fall in crude stocks last week, and it later fell back slightly.

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