Oil gains more than $3/bbl after Suez Canal ship grounding | Reuters

Oil gains more than $3/bbl after Suez Canal ship grounding | Reuters

Oil prices jumped about 6% on Wednesday after a ship ran aground in the Suez Canal, and worries that the incident could tie up crude shipments gave prices a boost after a slide over the last week.

The crude benchmarks, U.S. crude and London-based Brent, added to gains after U.S. inventory figures showed a further rebound in refining activity, suggesting U.S. refiners are mostly recovered from the cold snap that slammed Texas in February.

Brent crude settled at $64.41 a barrel, gaining $3.62, or 6%, after tumbling 5.9% the previous day. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) settled at $61.18 a barrel, rising $3.42, or 5.9%, having lost 6.2% on Tuesday.

The gains appeared to stabilize the market that had slumped from early this month, when prices hit their highest levels this year on expectations for demand recovery. Those hopes have since been dashed as European nations re-entered lockdowns to halt another wave of the pandemic.