Oil edges higher on U.S. stimulus hopes, tighter supplies | Reuters

Oil edges higher on U.S. stimulus hopes, tighter supplies | Reuters

Oil prices climbed more than 2% on Friday, hitting the highest levels in more than a year on hopes a U.S. stimulus will boost the economy and fuel demand, as supplies tighten due largely to output cuts by top producing countries.

Brent crude settled up $1.29, or 2.1%, at $62.43 a barrel by 1:32 p.m. ET (1832 GMT) after rising to a session high of $62.83, the highest since Jan. 22, 2020. U.S. oil ended the session up $1.23, or 2.1%, at $59.47 after rising to a session high of $59.82, the highest since Jan. 9, 2020.

U.S. crude notched a weekly gain of about 4.7% while Brent rose 5.3% on the week.

U.S. President Joe Biden will meet with a bipartisan group of mayors and governors as he keeps pushing for approval of a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan to bolster economic growth and help millions of unemployed workers.