NEW YORK, June 11 (Xinhua) -- Oil prices climbed on Friday, buoyed by market confidence in the prospects of demand recovery.

The West Texas Intermediate for July delivery added 62 cents to settle at 70.91 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for August delivery increased 17 cents to close at 72.69 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.

"The market seems to be focusing entirely on the (robust) recovery of demand at present," Eugen Weinberg, energy analyst at Commerzbank Research, said in a note on Friday.

"In its latest monthly report, OPEC expects oil demand in the second half year to be 5 million barrels per day higher than in the first six months of the year, and the oil market to be significantly undersupplied despite the production increases that have been agreed," he said, adding he expects "the upward trend on the oil market remains intact."

For the week, the U.S. crude benchmark rose 1.9 percent, while Brent gained 1.1 percent, based on the front-month contracts. Enditem

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