Gold also was up, hitting a fresh two-week high on Wednesday as the possibility of an early US interest rate hike faded.
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Also commenting, Dominick Chirichella, senior partner at the Energy Management Institute in NY said: “The market remains concerned about unscheduled supply interruptions with the latest coming from additional shut-ins in Nigeria”.
Traders are expecting the US Department of Energy’s weekly update to show another drop in crude stockpiles, which should firm oil prices further after having already rocketed by more than 90% in value since February.
Oil prices climbed to fresh peaks for 2016 for the third day in a row on Wednesday (Jun 8) due to supply disruptions in Nigeria and data showing lower USA petroleum inventories.
U.S. crude stockpiles likely fell by 3.5 million barrels last week to mark a third straight week of declines, a preliminary Reuters poll showed.
U.S. contract West Texas Intermediate (WTI) hit $51.67 a barrel, a near 11-month peak.
The Niger Delta Avengers militant group on Wednesday rejected an offer of talks with the government to end its attacks on oil facilities and said it had blown up a Chevron (CVX.N) pipeline site in the Niger Delta.
Canada’s economy has been hit hard by a rapid and deep decline in global oil prices that began in late 2014.
USA crude futures climbed 20 cents to $50.56 a barrel, after reaching $50.67 earlier, also an eight-month high.
“The WTI crude oil price closed above the United States dollars 50 mark for the first time in eight months, resulting in a cheerful rally in energy stocks”, said Margaret Yang, an analyst at CMC Markets in Singapore.
London Brent crude for August delivery settled up 89 cents or 1.8 percent at $51.44, after hitting an intraday high of $51.54, the strongest since October 12.
“With the industry projecting a decline in total US crude oil stocks in this week’s reports, the market bears are remaining on the sidelines”.
“Along with other factors such as rising oil demand and falling USA crude oil production, the rise in disruptions contributed to a month-over-month $5 per barrel increase in Brent crude oil spot prices in May”, the report said.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil for August delivery dipped 75 cents, or 1.43%, to trade at $51.76 a barrel.
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Nigerian production declined by 160,000 barrels a day to 1.45 million, according to the survey.
