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Brent crude futures rose 35 cents, or 0.4%, to $83.38 a barrel
at 1036 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures climbed
37 cents, or 0.5%, to $78.28 a barrel.
The dollar index slipped 0.3% to 103.66, supporting prices. A
weaker dollar usually boosts oil prices, making it cheaper for
buyers holding other currencies.
Two missiles were fired at a vessel off the southeast coast of
Yemen on Thursday, causing a fire onboard, British maritime
agencies said, as Houthis keep up attacks on shipping to show
support for the Palestinians in the Gaza war.
".... [Hostilities] in and around the Red Sea by Iran-backed
Houthi rebels on commercial ships are guaranteed to continue
keeping the geopolitical risk premium at an elevated level," PVM
Oil's Tamas Varga said.
A rise in U.S. crude inventories, however, tempered further
price gains.
U.S. crude stocks rose 7.17 million barrels in the week ended
Feb. 16, market sources citing American Petroleum Institute
figures said on Wednesday. Gasoline stockpiles also rose while
distillate fuel inventories declined. [API/S]
U.S. crude inventories have climbed amid outages at large
refineries that have left utilisation rates at the lowest level
in two years, though the plants are resuming output.
BP's 435,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) refinery in Indiana, the
largest in the U.S. Midwest, will return to full production in
March, according to people familiar with plant operations, after
a power outage from Feb. 1.
TotalEnergies' 238,000-bpd refinery in Port Arthur, Texas, is
also working to complete a restart, though it is still operating
minimally following a weather-related power outage.
Analysts expect U.S. refinery run rates to have risen to 81.5%
last week from 80.6% of total capacity in the previous week,
according to a Reuters poll.
Investors await official inventory data from the U.S. Energy
Information Administration (EIA) due at 1600 GMT on Thursday,
having been delayed by one day due to a U.S. holiday.
(Additional reporting by Colleen Howe and Jeslyn Lerh; editing
by Jason Neely)
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