Oil reaches three-week high as China relaxes COVID limits

Oil touched a three-week-high Tuesday as China’s latest relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions fueled prospects of a demand revival, while production in the United States was impacted by winter storms.

Brent Crude was up $1.22, or 1.5%, at $85.14 a barrel by 1:07 p.m. EST (1807 GMT) and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose $1.06 to $80.62 per barrel, a 1.3% gain, according to Reuters.

Both benchmarks hit their highest level since Dec. 5 earlier in the session. UK and U.S. markets were closed on Monday for the Christmas holiday.