Prices had already risen in earlier trade as data showed that China, the world’s No. 2 oil consumer, bought more crude oil last month, raising its imports.
The euro bounced from a one-month low against the dollar as Italian bond yields stabilized after a better than expected debt auction and as it moved closer to a national unity government. Greece named a technocrat to lead an interim crisis government.
By 12:20 p.m. EST (1720 GMT) ICE Brent crude for December delivery traded in London up $1.50 at $113.81 a barrel, after hitting a high of $113.96. On Wednesday, it fell for the first time in five sessions.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, US December crude was $2.17 higher, at $97.91, after hitting a session high of $98.02, the highest since Aug. 1.
Brent’s premium against US crude narrowed to around $15.90, after closing at $16.57 on Wednesday.
“The jobless claims (data) helps us with our recovery hopes as the EU still tries to find answers to avoid another failure,” said Carl Larry, president of Oil Outlooks LLC in New York
New US claims for unemployment benefits fell last week to their lowest since early April, and the trade deficit unexpectedly shrank in September — pointing to a slight improvement in the economy of the United States, the world’s top oil consumer.
Chinese data showed resilient domestic demand, with crude oil imports rising in October by 1.7 percent from September. China’s trade surplus was smaller than expected in October, as exports grew 15.9 percent from a year earlier while imports jumped 28.7 percent.
“There is enough demand for oil in the world from places like China and the developing world that the euro zone is not of overriding importance,” said Jefferies Bache oil broker Christopher Bellew, adding that he thought the Brent market was in a new trading range between $112-$116 a barrel.
The grim global economic prospects, combined with high oil prices, prompted the West’s energy watchdog the International Energy Agency on Thursday to cut its world oil demand forecast this year and next.
The market continued to weigh the risk of a supply disruption from Iran, as Western leaders called for expanded sanctions against the OPEC member over a UN watchdog report that it has worked to design atom bombs.
Worries over sanctions on Iran, or even an attack on Tehran’s nuclear operations, has caused the backwardation or premium for prompt Brent crude over forward prices to narrow.
