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Brent crude futures gained 19 cents, or 0.2%, to $89.20 a barrel
at 0927 GMT, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose
by 25 cents, or 0.3%, to $83.82 a barrel.
Brent has gained 2.2% so far this week, while WTI is up 0.8%.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told Reuters on Thursday
that U.S. GDP growth for the first quarter could be revised
higher, and inflation will ease after a clutch of "peculiar"
factors held the economy to its weakest showing in nearly two
years.
U.S. economic growth was likely stronger than suggested by
weaker-than-expected quarterly data, she said.
Data showed that economic growth slowed in the first quarter,
and prior to Yellen's comments, tremors from an acceleration in
inflation had weighed on oil prices as investors calculated that
the Federal Reserve would not cut interest rates before
September.
The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index
excluding food and energy rising rose at a 3.7% annual rate
after a 2.0% pace in the fourth quarter of 2023, the data
showed.
"US GDP growth of 1.6% that ... came in under expectations might
also be deemed a welcome development confirming the
effectiveness of the recent monetary tightening, nonetheless it
was the PCE price index that drove sentiment," PVM Oil analyst
Tamas Varga said.
Elsewhere, supply concerns as tensions continue in the Middle
East also buoyed prices early in the session.
Israel stepped up air strikes on Rafah after saying it would
evacuate civilians from the southern Gazan city and launch an
all-out assault despite allies' warnings this could cause mass
casualties.
(Additional reporting by Sudarshan Varadhan in Singapore;
editing by Jason Neely)
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