The West Texas Intermediate for April delivery gained 64 cents, or 0.83 percent, to settle at 77.69 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for May delivery added 86 cents, or 1.03 percent, to close at 84.31 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
Prices continued to garner some support from prospects of rising demand in China.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported Wednesday that the country's commercial crude oil inventories increased by 1.2 million barrels during the week ending Feb. 24. On average, analysts polled by S&P Global Commodity Insights had expected a climb of 350,000 barrels in U.S. crude supplies.
According to the EIA, total motor gasoline stocks decreased by 0.9 million barrels last week, while distillate fuel inventories rose by 0.2 million barrels.
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