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Oil prices climbed higher on Thursday on upbeat U.S. economic data and on renewed optimism about the outlook for energy demand from China.
Prospects of tighter supply in the market due to production cuts by OPEC and allies contributed as well to the rise in oil prices.
West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended higher by $1.31 or about 1.7% at $80.09 a barrel.
Brent crude futures settled with a gain of $1.32 or about 1.6% at $84.24 a barrel.
Data released by the Commerce Department showed an unexpected acceleration in the pave of economic growth in the second quarter.
The report said, real gross domestic product surged by 2.4% in the second quarter after jumping by 2% in the first quarter. Economists had expected the pace of GDP growth to slow to 1.8%.
Data released by the Labor department said initial jobless claims slipped to 221,000 in the week ended July 22nd, a decrease of 7,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level of 228,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 235,000.
A separate report released by the Commerce Department showed new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods soared by much more than expected in the month of June.
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