Oil traded near the highest level in more than two years as political upheaval in top crude exporter Saudi Arabia reverberated through a market where prices were already elevated by signs of tightening supply. Investors have piled into oil as a shake-up of the ruling elite in OPEC’s biggest producer was seen to consolidate power with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who backs extending the group’s output cuts aimed at clearing a global glut. The purge also raised concern over instability in the kingdom, supporting a geopolitical-risk premium on crude that’s emerged with heightened tensions surrounding nations such as Iraq and Iran. Oil’s gained more than 20 percent since the beginning of September on signs global supplies are tightening and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies may prolong their output deal past March. Click Read More below for additional information.

Futures were 0.4 percent lower in New York after falling 4.2 percent the previous three sessions. U.S. production had its biggest weekly gain since the end of June, climbing to the highest level since July 2015, according to Energy Information Administration data Wednesday. The increase offset the price impact of an 8.95-million-barrel decline in crude stockpiles, the biggest drop since September. U.S. crude output rose by 79,000 barrels a day last week to 9.5 million a day, the EIA reported. Crude stockpiles at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for WTI and the biggest U.S. oil-storage hub, expanded a second week to 57 million barrels. Gasoline inventories climbed by 22,000 barrels to 231 million. Click Read More below for additional detail.

Futures climbed 1.4 percent in New York, paring this week’s loss to 1.5 percent. China’s crude oil imports rebounded from a one-year low to near a record amid signs the nation’s commercial stockpiles shrank by the most in almost eight years. U.S. crude output increased to a record last week, while motor fuel inventories rose more than double analysts’ forecasts, government data showed Wednesday. U.S. crude production expanded for a seventh week to 9.7 million barrels a day, the highest level in weekly data compiled by the Energy Information Administration since 1983. Gasoline inventories rose by 6.78 million barrels last week, the biggest gain since January. Click Read More below for additional information.