Oil jumped 3% this afternoon as sharp draw-downs in US crude and gasoline stocks fed a rally that also saw prices surge when Greece passed an austerity plan to avoid a sovereign debt default.
US crude inventories fell last week for a fourth week, government data showed, dropping 4.4m barrels, much more than forecast, to 359.5m barrels.
Gasoline stockpiles declined 1.4m barrels to 213.2m barrels, against the forecast for a small increase.
By 5.15pm, ICE Brent crude for August delivery had raised $3.09 to $111.87 a barrel. US August crude gained $2.51 to $95.40.
