Investing.com - US crude prices jumped 18 percent in Thursday’s morning trade after the Trump administration said it was buying a total of 77 millions of American-sources oil to fill up the nation’s emergency reserves, in a bid to support an industry ravaged by the coronavirus crisis and ill-timed production hikes by Saudi Arabia.
* West Texas Intermediate, the New York-traded benchmark for U.S. crude prices, rose $3.73, or 17.9%, at $24.56 per barrel by 11:55 AM ET (15:55 GMT). WTI settled down 24% at $20.38 on Wednesday, the lowest in about 18 years.
* Brent, the London-traded global benchmark for crude, was up $1.92, or 7.7%, at $26.80.
* The Department of Energy said in a statement that it was buying a total of 77 million barrels of U.S. crude, beginning with 30 million barrels, to top up the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
* The SPR, which holds the nation’s oil reserves in underground salt caverns in Louisiana, has a total capacity of 713.5 million barrels. As of March 15, total volume of crude in its hold was at 649.1 million barrels, according to data from the Energy Information Administration.