Oil jumped nearly 9% to just under $68 a barrel today as global markets rallied and the dollar fell.
World stock markets put in a second consecutive session of strong bargain-hunting gains the day after a huge rally on Wall Street, amid widespread expectations of a sharp cut in US interest rates.
US crude rose $5.13 to $67.85 a barrel after hitting a session high of $68.91. London Brent crude surged $5.64 a barrel to $65.93.
US crude inventories last week rose 500,000 barrels, less than the 1.4 million barrel gain expected by analysts, according to data released by the US Energy Information Administration.
Distillate stocks rose 2.3 million barrels - above the 800,000 barrel increase forecast by analysts, while gasoline stocks fell by 1.5 million barrels compared with analysts expectations of a 1.2 million barrel build.
Gasoline demand continued to fall, down 3.4% over the past four weeks versus the year-ago period, while total product demand was down 7.8% for the same period.
Some OPEC members have said the producer group could cut oil production again to help support prices, after agreeing to a 1.5 million barrel per day reduction last week.
