Oil rises over 3% as demand worries ease amid fewer new coronavirus cases - Reuters

Oil rises over 3% as demand worries ease amid fewer new coronavirus cases - Reuters:

Oil prices rose over 3% on Wednesday as China reported its lowest daily number of new coronavirus cases since late January, stoking investor hopes that fuel demand in the world’s second-largest oil consumer may begin to recover.

Brent LCOc1 futures gained $1.78, or 3.3%, to settle at $55.79 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) CLc1 crude gained $1.23, or 2.5%, to settle at $51.17.

Those were the highest settles for both futures since January even though the U.S. government reported a larger-than-expected weekly build in crude inventories that was countered by a decline in fuel stocks, including an unexpected gasoline drawdown.

Crude inventories USOILC=ECI rose 7.5 million barrels last week, the Energy Information Administration said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 3 million-barrel rise.