Oil prices have risen and are up more than 1% as US demand recovers

Oil prices rose more than 1% on Wednesday, boosting profits in the third session, after US government data showed that demand for fuel has been the highest since the onset of the Govt-19 epidemic.

Brent rose $ 1.20, or 1.7%, to $ 72.25 a barrel. U.S. crude (WTI) rose $ 0.82 or 1.2% to $ 68.36 a barrel.

U.S. Petrol futures closed 5.5% higher at $ 2.3008 a gallon. During the session, prices reached $ 2,3026 a gallon, the highest since August 12.

As an indicator of fuel demand, the four-week average for total U.S. supplied production has risen to nearly 21 million barrels per day, which the U.S. Energy Information Database Administration (IEA) said when it began imposing epidemic-related restrictions from March 2020. [EIA/S]

Refineries increased production to 92.4%, the highest since the end of June, and helped bring U.S. oil inventories to a minimum from January 2020.

Last week, oil cargo fell from 3 million barrels to 432.6 million barrels, the lowest since January 2020, according to the IEA.