Oil futures end higher on speculation the Biden administration may refill the U.S. oil reserve

Oil futures settled higher on Wednesday, buoyed in part by a report from Bloomberg Tuesday that said the Biden administration may consider refilling the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve when crude prices dip below $80 a barrel. “While rallies are likely to be constrained by concerns over demand and China’s zero-COVID policy, we now have what is, in effect, a Biden put under the oil market,” said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK. October WTI crude CLV22, +1.04% rose $1.17, or 1.3%, to settle at $88.48 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.