Brent crude futures rose 61 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $80.40 a barrel by 0124 GMT..
US West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 65 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $75.84 a barrel, after rising 90 cents in the previous session..
The market received support from the US plan announced last week to buy up to three million barrels of oil for the strategic reserve, after the United States this year released 180 million barrels of stocks, which is a record..
A weak US dollar has also supported prices as it makes oil cheaper for holders of other currencies. The dollar index reached about 104.7.
But for prices to rise further, analysts said there would need to be clear signs of increased demand.
“The outlook for oil demand will be key to how high crude prices are and that could have a hard time being clear as we see mixed signals with the lifting of lockdown restrictions in China,” Edward Moya, an analyst at OANDA, said in a note.
On Tuesday, China recorded a jump in new confirmed cases of coronavirus, to 2,722 on December 19, up from 1,995 the previous day. However, there is growing skepticism about whether the official tally captures the true number of infections, with anecdotal evidence suggesting that the disease is spreading in cities..
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