The price for a barrel of crude oil closed higher Friday, due to optimistic expectations about the demand for oil. On a weekly basis, the price for a barrel of crude oil won about 5.0 percent.

“Oil prices have picked up the wind with clear signs that demand is recovering strongly,” Commerzbank analysts said.

Both the Organization of oil exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, as well as the International Energy Agency foresee a further recovery of oil demand. The IEA expects demand to return to pre-crisis levels within a year. At first, the organization assumed that this would not happen until 2023.

OPEC agreed earlier this week to stick to its schedule for provisionally dipping production this and next month, which according to market followers means that 700,000 extra barrels per day should be on the market in June and another 840,000 barrels per day in June.

“If OPEC+ does not continue production after July, the oil market is likely to contract significantly in the second half of the year,” Commerzbank’s analysts say.

A July future for a barrel of crude oil closed 1.2 percent, or $ 0.81, higher at $ 69.62 on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Friday.