Oil prices increased as the dollar fell, and a drop in fuel inventories in the United States signaled that consumer demand was improving. Although the US dollar was trading lower, futures in New York rose above $65 a barrel. In the last two weeks, gasoline stockpiles have fallen by more than 25 million barrels, while an indicator of demand increased to its highest level since November last week. Profits from the fuel's production have skyrocketed.

Meanwhile, China has increased its purchases of Iranian oil, even as other countries stand in line for the US sanctions to be lifted. According to traders and analysts, imports have increased so much this month that ports in Shandong province are experiencing increased congestion.

Oil's year-to-date gain of more than 30% has taken a bit of a rest in recent days. Despite this, the market has tightened as OPEC+ members reduce production and the outlook for demand improves with the introduction of Covid-19 vaccines.

“Today's increase in oil prices needs to be influenced by positive risk outlook on global financial markets. With the next OPEC+ meeting less than three weeks away, there is a constraint on how high prices can go since OPEC+ will begin to stabilize output,” according to Jens Pedersen, the senior analyst at Danske Bank.

Prices:

· At 10:26 a.m., West Texas Intermediate was up 1.3 % to $65.27 a barrel. the time in London

· Brent for May delivery increased by 1.3 % to $68.81.

According to the Energy Information Administration, fuel inventories in the United States fell by nearly 12 million barrels last week. Following a cold blast that closed down several refineries, crude stockpiles increased by 13.8 million, bringing the three-week gain to nearly 37 million.

According to consultant Energy Aspects, U.S. crude will have to sell at a higher discount to the global Brent benchmark. This comes as the Brent market is swept away by refinery repairs and drastic cuts in Saudi OSPs, causing U.S. crude to trade even lower.

Other oil-market news:

· After facing investor backlash, S&P Global Platts has decided to postpone a decision to reform the world's most critical oil price.

Following months of being ravaged by a demand-killing pandemic and then a rare Gulf Coast freeze, refiners in the United States are being confronted with the highest margins on converting crude oil into gasoline and diesel since the summer of 2019.