Oil prices touched a one and a half month high on Friday amid signs demand for crude was picking up as the world is hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil was up 65 cents, or 2.36%, at $28.21 a barrel at 0938 GMT, after reaching $28.75, its highest level since early April. WTI jumped 9% in the previous session.
Brent crude was up 81 cents, or 2.6% at $31.94 a barrel, after touching $32.50 the highest level since April 13. Brent rose nearly 7% on Thursday.
Both contracts are on track for a third consecutive week of gains, Reuters reported.
"Further signs of demand recovery together with deepening production cuts from OPEC+ as well as shut-ins and natural declines by non-OPEC+ is helping oil prices to recover," Bjarne Schieldrop, chief SEB commodities analyst, said.
Amid supply cuts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other major producers, bright spots are also emerging on the demand side.
Data released on Friday showed China's daily crude oil use rebounded in April as refineries ramped up operations.
The market mood remains less than euphoric, though, with the coronavirus pandemic far from over and new clusters emerging in some countries where lockdowns have been eased, Reuters said.
"Oil prices have been up significantly since yesterday thanks to a better assessment of the situation by the International Energy Agency (IEA)," Commerzbank said in a note.
The IEA expects global crude inventories to fall by about 5.5 million barrels per day (bpd) in the second half of this year.
