Investing.com - Crude futures soared on Thursday on news reports that a Malaysian Airlines was shot down over Ukraine not far from the Russian border, while Wednesday's weekly U.S. supply report also bolstered the commodity.
In the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate crude oil for delivery in August traded up 1.60% at $102.82 a barrel during U.S. trading. New York-traded oil futures hit a session low of $101.28 a barrel and a high of $103.06 a barrel.
The August contract settled up 1.24% at $101.20 a barrel on Wednesday.
Nymex oil futures were likely to find support at $99.01 a barrel, Tuesday's low, and resistance at $104.20 a barrel, the high from July 8.
Investors were tracking news reports that a Malaysian Airlines plane crashed in Ukraine, with wire reports saying the aircraft had been shot down near the border with Russia, a major oil exporter.
Oil prices shot up as investors awaited confirmation of the plane crash and its cause, as concerns began to build that the Russian-Ukraine conflict will escalate and disrupt the global flow of crude oil.
Malaysia Airlines confirmed it lost contact with the plane, while wire reports quoting Ukraine officials said the plane was shot down, though a lack of confirmations on what happened kept many on the sidelines, which capped gains somewhat.
Oil prices also saw support on Wednesday's supply data.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that U.S. crude oil inventories declined by 7.5 million barrels in the week ended July 11, far surpassing expectations for a decline of 2.1 million barrels.
Total U.S. crude oil inventories stood at 375.0 million barrels as of last week.
The report also showed that total motor gasoline inventories increased by 0.2 million barrels, below forecasts for a gain of 0.6 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles rose by 2.5 million barrels, above expectations for an increase of 1.7 million barrels.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oilfutures for September delivery were up 0.55% and trading at US$107.76 a barrel, while the spread between the Brent and U.S. crude contracts stood at US$4.94 a barrel.