Oil is about to rise weekly. Oil prices rose during the opening hours of Asian markets on Friday, with the global benchmark, Brent, set to see its first weekly rise in three weeks thanks to signs of improving global demand and slowing inflation in the United States.

Brent crude oil prices rose 21 cents, or 0.3%, to $83.48 per barrel at 0018 GMT. The price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil rose 18 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $79.41 per barrel. Brent futures are expected to rise by around 1% on a weekly basis, and WTI futures are expected to gain 1.4%

Recent declines in oil and refined product inventories in major global trading centers have raised optimism about oil demand growth, reversing the trend of increased inventories that had weighed heavily on crude oil prices in previous weeks. U.S. oil and fuel inventories fell last week, while Singapore's middle distillate stocks hit their lowest level in nearly three months. In Europe, on the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp trading platform, gasoline inventories fell by 7.5% in the week ending on Thursday, according to data from the consulting firm Insights Global