Oil prices rose on Thursday as geopolitical tensions heightened supply concerns, particularly due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
Brent crude futures for January increased by $0.32, or 0.4%, to US$73.13 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for January added $0.36, or 0.5%, to $69.11 per barrel.
The escalation came as Ukraine launched British Storm Shadow cruise missiles at Russian targets, a significant development following the earlier use of U.S. ATACMS missiles.
Moscow has labelled these strikes on its territory far from the conflict zone as a major escalation.
Kyiv argues such strikes are defensive measures against Russian rear bases supporting the invasion.
In the U.S., crude stockpiles rose by 545,000 barrels to 430.3 million barrels for the week ending 15 November, as reported by the Energy Information Administration (EIA).
This exceeded market expectations of a 400,000-barrel rise. Gasoline inventories saw a larger-than-expected increase, while distillate stockpiles recorded a notable decline.
Adding to supply dynamics, Norway's Equinor restored full output capacity at its Johan Sverdrup oilfield in the North Sea after a power outage.