Oil prices rose on Thursday after jumping 1% in the prior session, amid a narrative of a recovery in US oil demand. EIA data showed the US crude oil inventories edged up 0.09 million barrels in the April 23rd week, after a 0.594 million rise in the previous period and compared with forecasts of a 0.659 million gain. Meantime, OPEC+ stuck to their plans for a gradual easing of oil production curbs from May to July, after the group raised slightly its demand growth for 2021 to 6 million bpd. Adding the bullish tone, the US Fed said that economic activity and employment have strengthened, due to progress on vaccinations. On the pandemic front, India’s virus cases stood at 18.3 million on Thursday after reporting a record rise in cases over the last 24 hours. At around 06:00 AM GMT, both benchmarks hit their highest in 1-1/2-months. WTI crude added 0.5% to $64.16 a barrel. Meantime, Brent oil was also up 0.5% to $67.59 a barrel.
