Brent crude oil prices spiked to the highest level in 2½ years on Monday on news that a major pipeline in the U.K.'s North Sea will shut down for repairs. The Forties pipeline system will close for several weeks while its operator, INEOS, repairs a crack in a pipe discovered last week. The pipeline carries about 450,000 barrels a day of Forties crude from offshore fields in the North Sea to a processing plant in Scotland. Click Read More below for additional information.

Oil rose on Wednesday, supported by strong demand for gasoline, but rising output from OPEC producers revived concerns about a persistent overhang of excess crude. Brent crude futures LCOc1 were up 21 cents at $49.05 a barrel by 1204 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures CLc1 were up 14 cents at $46.50 a barrel. While U.S. crude stocks rose by 1.6 million barrels to 497.2 million barrels in the week to July 14, gasoline stocks fell by a whopping 5.4 million barrels, the American Petroleum Institute said on Tuesday.

Crude rebounded over 5 percent last month, recouping February’s losses, after U.S. President Donald Trump named hawkish officials to his government, signaling the nation may pursue a more hard-line stance toward Iran. Even so, concerns persist that a rapid increase in American production, which has topped 10 million barrels a day each week since early February, could undermine efforts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, which are trying to balance the market by cutting output. U.S. explorers cut the number of rigs by the most since November 2017 last week, bringing the total to 797, Baker Hughes data showed. Still, the count remains near the highest in three years, and with separate data showing nationwide crude inventories climbed 1.64 million barrels in the week ended March 23, jitters over increasing U.S. supplies remain. Click Read More below for additional information.