Oil futures reached another high for the year on Wednesday, bolstered by expectations that major producers will make a move this month to stabilize their crude output levels and stem the rise in the glut of oil inventories.
April West Texas Intermediate crude climbed by $1.79, or 4.9%, to settle at $38.29 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
May Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange rose $1.42, or 3.6%, to $41.07 a barrel, also the highest level of the year.
U.S. government data showed that crude oil stockpiles grew by more than 3.9 million barrels last week, according to Bloomberg MarketWatch.
April natural gas also rose by 4 cents, or 2.3%, to $1.752 per million British thermal units ahead of a U.S. Energy Information Administration supply report due Thursday.
