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Brent crude futures surged 2.3% to USD95.69 on Wed, bolstered by record U.S. crude exports and as the nation's refiners operated at higher-than-usual levels for this time of year . WTI crude rose 3% to USD87.91.
The U.S. dollar fell 1.2%, adding support.
U.S. crude stocks rose 2.6 m barrels last week, according to weekly government data, more than anticipated, but that was lower than industry figures, which showed a 4.5 m-barrel build.
Crude exports rose to 5.1 m barrels a day, the most ever, dropping net U.S. crude imports to their lowest in history.
"Overall, thanks to the export market, this turns into a bullish report despite a medium-sized build in commercial crude inventories," said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital in New York.
Traders attributed the surge in exports to the widened WTI-Brent spread, which, coming into Wed's trade, was at more than USD8 per barrel.
U.S. refining rates remained steady at nearly 89% of capacity, the highest for this time of year since 2018.
Prices also rose on a Bloomberg news report that the U.S. and the EU are likely to settle for a more loosely policed cap at a higher price than once envisioned, with just the G7 nations and Australia committed to abide by it, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.
Europe is expected next month to ban oil imports from Russia and restrict Russian shippers from the global shipping insurance industry. That ban may tighten world shipping markets, which could also increase the price of oil. Many analysts believe Russia will be able to circumvent the measures, but it could still cause Moscow to shut between 1 m and 2 m barrels of daily production; it could as well hit the distillates markets.
"Until 2024 we believe oil price will be strongly influenced by the availability of tankers that are willing to transport Russian oil rather than global supply-demand fundamentals, keeping oil price elevated," JP Morgan analysts wrote.