Futures have climbed 3.8 percent in New York this week after reaching the highest since December 2014 on Thursday. Crude stockpiles fell for a 10th week to the lowest level…

Brent LCOc1 had gained 28 cents to $53.66 a barrel by 0952 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures Clc1 were up 15 cents at $48.81. “Hurricane Harvey was bearish for crude and speculators went massively short WTI but now there is a reversal to positions pre-Harvey. Strong margins are helping underpin crude ... gasoil is at its highest point this year,” Olivier Jakob of Petromatrix consultancy said. Many refineries, pipelines and ports that were knocked out by Harvey 10 days ago are restarting. As of Tuesday, about 3.8 million barrels per day (bpd) of refining capacity, or 20 percent of the U.S. total, was shut. This compares with 4.2 million bpd at the height of the storm.

Futures lost 0.3 percent in New York after rebounding Tuesday from the biggest drop in a week. Motor fuel stockpiles gained by 1.4 million barrels last week, while crude inventories fell by 3.6 million barrels, the American Petroleum Institute was said to report. Energy Information Administration data Wednesday is forecast to show both gasoline and crude stockpiles decreased. U.S. crude stockpiles at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for WTI and the biggest U.S. oil-storage hub, dropped by 462,000 barrels last week, said the API, according to people familiar with the data. Nationwide crude inventories probably decreased by 3.48 million barrels last week, while gasoline supplies slid 1.25 million, according to analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Click Read More below for additional detail.