Summary:
Thursday marked the week's final settlement before Easter, with light trading. Brent and WTI rose about 5%, their first weekly gain in 3 weeks.
Thursday is the last settlement day of the week ahead of the Easter holidays and trade volumes were thin. For the week, both Brent and WTI gained about 5%, their first weekly gain in three weeks.
They settled more than 3% higher on Thursday, supported by hopes for a trade deal between the US and the EU and new sanctions to curb Iranian oil exports, which continued to elevate supply concerns.
Trump and Italian PM Giorgia Meloni met in Washington and expressed optimism about resolving trade tensions. Vice-President JD Vance said earlier there was a "good chance" of a deal with the UK.
The US president touted "big progress" in tariff talks with Japan on Wednesday, in one of the first rounds of face-to-face negotiations. He also said he expected to make a trade deal with China.
Crude inventories rose by 515,000 barrels the week ended 11 April, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations for a 507,000-barrel rise. Meanwhile, crude exports hit the highest in about a year.
"In the next four years we'll almost certainly see lower average energy prices than we saw in the last four years of the previous administration," said US Energy Secretary Chris Wright last week.
Brent crude extended it rally amid improving market sentiment and the risk remains skewed towards the upside. The next major hurdle could be the previous support around $68.2.
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