Oil resumes gains, Brent hits 2-month high

Oil prices rose on Friday, resuming gains after taking a pause yesterday, with Brent crude rising again to a 2-month high, while on track for the fourth straight weekly gain, following the the US crude inventories drop to the lowest level since 2018.

US crude rose 1.4% to $82.82 a barrel, after opening at $81.70, and hit a low at $81.60, and Brent crude rose 1.6% to $85.42 a barrel, after opening at $84.08, and hit a low at $84.02.

The US crude lost 1.3% yesterday, due to profit-taking after hitting a 2-month high at $83.07, and Brent crude fell 0.8%.

Oil prices gained 4.75% so far this week, heading for the fourth straight weekly gain.

The dollar index fell more than 0.2% today, hitting a 2-month low at 94.62 points, which lifts prices of dollar-denominated commodities.

The Energy Information Administration reported yesterday that the US crude inventories fell 4.6 million barrels during the past week, while analysts forecast a drop by 2.1 million barrels.

According to the data, the total US commercial stocks fell to 413.5 million barrels, the lowest level since the week ending on October 5, 2018.

While the US output fell 100K barrels last week, with the total at 117 million barrels per day.