Oil rises to $73 amid tight US supplies
Brent crude rose $1.23, or 1.7%, to $72.68 at 1047 GMT. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was up $1.08, or 1.6%, to $69.22.
Oil and stock markets also found support with news that a phone call between US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping raised hopes for warmer relations and more global trade.
The Biden-Xi phone call had a positive impact on oil markets, as it did on other asset classes.
Brent was on track to close the week on a small note. It is up almost 40% this year, driven by supply cuts from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and a recovery in demand driven by the pandemic.
On Thursday, both crude oil contracts were down more than 1 percent after China said it would release its crude oil reserves via auction to help mitigate high raw material costs for refineries.
The focus of next week will be on OPEC and the International Energy Agency's revisions to the 2022 oil demand outlook and whether the spread of the Delta variant of COVID-19 delays the return to 2019 demand levels.
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