Driven by the increasingly pronounced relaxation in the financial markets and the continuation of a blockade in Iraq that cuts supply by several million barrels, oil prices rose on Thursday.

The American West Texas Intermediate (WTI) barrel at the same maturity rose 1.91% to $74.37. While the barrel of Brent from the North Sea for delivery in May appreciated by 1.26%, closing at $79.27. Craig Erlam, an analyst at Oanda, said in a note that with anxiety about the banking sector ebbing, “the economic outlook looks a bit better and this has allowed stock prices to recoup some of their losses” since the start of the crisis.

For his part, John Kilduff of Again Capital believes that “there was no real news today, but the driving forces that were this week's US stocks and the suspension (of exports) in Kurdistan (Iraq) caught everyone's attention.”