Oil Prices Gain Around 1 Percent on Optimism Over China’s Recovery

Oil Prices Gain Around 1 Percent on Optimism Over China’s Recovery
A PetroChina worker inspects a pump jack at an oil field in Tacheng, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China, on June 27, 2018. Stringer AT/Reuters
|Updated:

LONDON—Oil prices rose on Wednesday to their highest since early December on optimism that the lifting of China’s strict COVID-19 curbs will lead to a fuel demand recovery in the world’s top oil importer.

Brent crude futures were up $1.21, or 1.41 percent, to $87.13 a barrel by 0942 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up $1.36, or 1.7 percent, to $81.54. Both were at their highest since early December.