Oil prices rise over 2% despite big US crude stock build
Oil prices rose on Wednesday as investors grew more discouraged about peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, feeding worries about tight supplies even after U.S. crude stocks rose by more than 9 million barrels in the most recent week.
Brent crude was up $2.72, or 2.6%, to $107.36 a barrel by 12:52 p.m. (1652 GMT) U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained $2.39, or 2.4%, to $102.99.
The gains came a day after both benchmarks climbed more than 6%.
“Even though prices have fallen back a bit in recent weeks, they remain extremely high by past standards,” said Kieran Clancy, commodities economist at Capital Economics.
