Oil rose for the fourth day, supported by Chinese demand

Oil rose in early trading on Thursday, extending its gains for the fourth day in a row, as crude loading disruptions in Turkey and optimism about the continued recovery of demand in China boosted sentiment.

By 0239 GMT, Brent crude futures were up 14 cents, or 0.2 percent, at $85.26 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 11 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $78.58 a barrel.

Both benchmarks have risen more than 6 percent this week.

And BP Azerbaijan declared force majeure to load Azeri crude from the Turkish port of Ceyhan on February 7, after a strong earthquake hit Turkey and Syria early on Monday. The disaster caused the suspension of operations at the port of Ceyhan and the disruption of crude oil supplies from Iraq and Azerbaijan.

Crude prices also received support from hopes for a quick recovery in demand from China, after the end of the world’s second-largest oil consumer, the strict zero Covid policy that lasted for three years.

But the increase in US crude stocks put pressure on oil gains. Inventories rose last week to the highest level since June 2021, to 455.1 million barrels.