NEW YORK: US crude oil futures gained more than 1 percent as it appeared US Congress was close to an 11th-hour deal to raise the government’s debt ceiling and prevent a default.

The front-month November Brent contract was up 81 cents to $110.77 a barrel by

1522 GMT. The previous session, Brent fell $1.14. December Brent rose $1.09 per barrel to $110.51.

Brent’s premium over US oil has remained between the 10- and 200-day moving averages of $7.62 and $10.04 for the last seven sessions and was last trading at $8.49.

The US benchmark rose $1.09 to $102.30. On Tuesday, it fell $1.20.

The US Energy Information Administration was not releasing its weekly oil inventory data this week due to the government shutdown.