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Brent crude futures rose 84 cents, or 1%, to $81.44 a barrel by
1248 GMT, compared with about $98 a barrel on the eve of
Russia's invasion of Ukraine a year ago.
West Texas Intermediate crude futures (WTI) advanced 80 cents,
or 1.1%, to $74.75 after six sessions of losses.
Lending support to prices, Russia plans to cut oil exports from
its western ports by up to 25% in March, exceeding its announced
production cuts of 500,000 barrels per day.
Both oil benchmarks lost more than $2 in the previous session on
expectations of further increases to interest rates.
Minutes from the latest U.S. Federal Reserve meeting on
Wednesday showed that a majority of Fed officials agreed that
the risks of high inflation warranted further rate hikes.
The policymakers also suggested that a shift to smaller
increases would let them calibrate more closely with incoming
data.
The dollar, meanwhile, has strengthened against a basket of
other currencies in recent weeks, making oil more expensive for
holders of other currencies.
Oil price gains were also kept in check by signs of further
crude inventory builds.
U.S. crude oil and fuel inventories rose by 9.9 million barrels
last week, according to market sources citing American Petroleum
Institute figures.
U.S. oil inventories have climbed every week since mid-December,
stoking worries about demand. [API/S]
A Reuters poll had forecast a 2.1 million barrel increase in
crude stockpiles last week. Official data from the U.S. Energy
Information Administration is due at 1600 GMT.
While a stronger dollar remains a near-term headwind for crude,
we expect lower Russian production and China's reopening to
tighten the oil market and support prices, UBS analysts said.
(Reporting by Shadia NasrallaAdditional reporting by Muyu Xu in
SingaporeEditing by David Goodman)
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