Oil prices rose on Wednesday, erasing earlier losses, after an incident involving a commercial vessel off the coast of Oman, but rising COVID-19 cases in China capped gains, according to Reuters.
Brent crude futures gained 65 cents, or 0.7%, to $94.51 a barrel by 0854 GMT, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 35 cents, or 0.4%, to $87.27 a barrel. Both benchmarks fell more than $1 earlier in the session.
The United States Navy's Fifth Fleet said it aware of an incident on Wednesday in the Gulf of Oman involving a commercial vessel, Commander Timothy Hawkins told Reuters.
The Associated Press had reported that a Liberian-flagged oil tanker operated by the Singapore-based Eastern Pacific Shipping was struck in an exploding drone attack off the Gulf of Oman. Oil prices settled higher on Tuesday after oil supply to parts of Europe via a section of the Druzhba pipeline was temporarily suspended, according to oil pipeline operators in Hungary and Slovakia.