2020.09.2419:02:00UTC+00Crude Oil Futures Settle Higher Again

Crude oil prices moved higher on Thursday despite lingering worries about energy demand outlook in the wake of rising COVID-19 cases and fresh lockdown measures in several parts across Europe.

The U.K., France and Germany have all been reporting spikes in new cases of coronavirus infections and several countries in Europe, including these three, have imposed new restrictions.

West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November ended up $0.38 or almost 1% at $40.31 a barrel, recovering well after early weakness.

Brent crude futures edged up $0.08 or about 0.2% to $41.85 a barrel.

Recent data from Energy Information Administration that showed a drop in U.S. crude inventories supported oil's recovery.

The EIA data on Wednesday showed crude inventories in the country fell by 1.6 million barrels last week. The drop, however, was less than what markets had expected.

Gasoline stockpiles fell by about 4 million barrels last week, while distillate stockpiles showed a drawdown of 3.4 million barrels, according the report from EIA.

However, data showing a drop in U.S. business activity in September limited oil's uptick. The continued impasse over additional fiscal stimulus too raised concerns about economic recovery and weighed on the commodity.