Oil extends rally, rises over 1% on U.S. fuel demand recovery | Reuters

Oil extends rally, rises over 1% on U.S. fuel demand recovery | Reuters

Oil prices rose more than 1% on Wednesday, extending gains for a third session, after U.S. government data showed that fuel demand climbed to its highest since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Brent crude rose $1.20, or 1.7%, to settle at $72.25 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gained 82 cents, or 1.2%, to end at $68.36 a barrel.

U.S. gasoline futures rose 5.5% to settle at $2.3008 a gallon. During the session, prices reached $2.3026 a gallon, their highest since Aug. 12.

The four-week average for U.S. total product supplied, a proxy for fuel demand, soared to nearly 21 million barrels per day, its highest since March 2020, when governments first began to widely impose pandemic-related restrictions, U.S. Energy Information Administration data for last week showed.