WTI gained 3.6% to $39.86 a barrel Thursday as the US dollar weakened after the Federal Reserve dampenened expectations for interest rate increases. This is in conjunction with major oil producers signaling a growing willingness to freeze output.
Brent crude also rose 2.2% to $41.23 a barrel extending previous gains. Both WTI and Brent have recovered more than 40% since plummeting to multi-year lows at the start of 2016.
The Wall Street Journal reported, “the gains follow a two-day policy meeting by the Fed that ended with central bankers pushing back their timeline for interest rate increases in the U.S., pointing to risks posed by weak global growth and volatility in financial markets.”