Oil prices dipped modestly on Thursday but still held close to their highest in almost three years, supported by drawdowns in U.S. inventories and accelerating German economic activity.
Doubts about the future of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal that could end U.S. sanctions on Iranian crude exports also helped prices.
Brent dipped 18 cents, or 0.24%, to $75.01 a barrel by 1055 GMT, after earlier rising to $75.78. U.S. crude slipped 17 cents, or 0.23%, to $72.91 a barrel, after hitting a session high of $73.61 earlier.
Both benchmarks had hit their highest since October 2018 on Wednesday before slightly paring back gains.
“The narrative is unchanged: the bounce in Western-world commuting and leisure activity fuels oil demand and drains oil supplies,” Norbert Rücker, head of economics at Julius Baer, wrote in a note.
