Oil prices increased for a second day on Thursday due to expectations that demand in the United States, the largest oil consumer in the world, would increase as refineries attempt to resume operations following disruptions and as the dollar depreciated. At 0510 GMT, a barrel of Brent crude futures increased by 17 cents, or 0.2%. The April contract for U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose by 19 cents, or 0.2%, to $78.10 per barrel.

On Wednesday, oil prices increased by 1%. Yeap Jun Rong, market strategist at I.G., stated that geopolitical tensions have contributed to the resilience of oil prices thus far. “Market participants seem to be eyeing a retest of its year-to-date high following its rally in February,” Rong added.

Nevertheless, given the higher-than-expected build in U.S. crude stocks from the API figure overnight, gains may be somewhat contained for the time being as investors wait to see if the EIA numbers are released ahead of schedule, Yeap continued.

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According to market sources citing data from the American Petroleum Institute, crude stocks increased by 7.17 million barrels during the week that concluded on February 16. While distillate fuel inventories decreased, gasoline stockpiles also increased.

Although the refineries are starting to produce again, large-scale outages have caused utilisation rates to drop to their lowest point in two years, contributing to an increase in U.S. crude inventories. According to sources familiar with plant operations, B.P.’s 435,000 barrel-per-day refinery in Indiana, the largest in the U.S. Midwest, will resume total production in March following a power outage that began on February 1.

After a weather-related power outage, TotalEnergies’ 238,000-bpd refinery in Port Arthur, Texas, still operates at a minimal capacity. Still, the company is also working to complete a restart. Based on a Reuters poll, analysts predict that U.S. refinery run rates increased to 81.5% of total capacity last week from 80.6% the week before.

Investors will watch the official U.S. Energy Information Administration inventory data, scheduled for release at 1600 GMT on Thursday but one day later than expected due to a U.S. holiday. A declining U.S. dollar, which lowers the price of oil for traders holding other currencies, also helped support crude.

At 0510 GMT, the dollar index, which compares the value of the U.S. dollar to six significant competitors, dropped to 103.905. Yeap stated, “The U.S. dollar’s decline for the fourth straight session may also strengthen the short-term appeal for oil.”