Crude oil trade rose amid slowing U.S. oil production following operations in the Gulf of Mexico that remained stalled after more than a week of Hurricane Ida.
Entering the European session, US WTI futures gained 14 cents to $ 69.44 a barrel, while Brent crude traded up 22 cents to $ 72.82 a barrel.
About 77% or 1.4 million barrels a day of production is still stalled, causing the market to lose around 17.5 million barrels of oil so far.
On the other hand, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) expects U.S. crude oil production to fall by 200,000 barrels a day in 2021, saying that Hurricane Ida caused a larger decline than previously expected.
Meanwhile, a report from the American Petroleum Institute (API) showed the decline in crude oil last week was lower than expected, but the reduction in gasoline and refining inventories was larger than predicted.
US crude oil supplies fell by 2.9 million barrels last week, while petrol inventories fell by 6.4 million barrels. Distillery stocks fell by 3.7 million, according to API data.
Meanwhile, the strengthening of prices was also supported by the tension of protests in Libya which disrupted oil exports in Es Sider and Ras Lanuf.
