WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Crude oil futures moved sharply higher during trading on Thursday, extending the rebound seen in the previous session.
After rising $0.43 to $64.44 a barrel on Wednesday, crude for April delivery jumped $1.58 to $66.02 a barrel.
The continued increase by the price of crude oil came amid optimism about the outlook for energy demand after the House passed a $1.9 trillion relief package, which President Joe Biden later signed into law.
Oil prices also continued to benefit from yesterday's report from the Energy Information Administration showing steep drops in inventories of gasoline and distillate fuel.
While crude oil inventories jumped by 13.8 million barrels in the week ended March 5, gasoline inventories plunged by 11.9 million barrels and distillate fuel inventories tumbled by 5.5 million barrels.
In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department released a report showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits fell to a four-month low in the week ended March 6th.
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