Oil futures finish higher to climb back above $100 a barrel

Oil futures settled higher on Thursday, with the U.S. oil benchmark back above the $100 mark. A combination of the International Energy Agency on Wednesday reporting that upwards of 3 million barrels a day in Russian oil supply could be lost in the coming weeks, and “fading optimism” for a ceasefire deal between Russia and Ukraine drove gains for oil Thursday, said Tyler Richey, co-editor at Sevens Report Research. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery CLJ22, +9.02% rose $7.94, or nearly 8.4%, to settle at $102.98 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after posting losses in each of the last three trading sessions.