Oil extends gains ahead of US inventories data

Oil prices rose on Wednesday, despite rising US dollar against most of its peers, ahead of the release of US inventories data.

During the IEA-IEF-OPEC Symposium on Energy Outlooks, Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdelaziz Bin Salman renewed the Saudi warnings about the lingering uncertainty in the market due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and stressed on the need for flexibility in response to any future shocks.

Later today, the American Petroleum Institute will release preliminary data on US crude stocks, while the Energy Information Administration will release its official data on Thursday.

The dollar index rose against a basket of major currencies by 0.5% to 90.9 points as of 18:11 GMT, after hitting a high of 91.06 points and a low of 90.1 points.

As of 18:06 GMT, WTI crude March futures rose 1.1% to $60.7 a barrel, after hitting a high of $61.2 and a low of $59.4.

Brent April futures rose 1.1% to $64.08 a barrel, after hitting a high of $64.7 and a low of $62.7.