Oil surged by over 10 percent on Thursday – the biggest intraday gain since March 2009.
The commodity was lifted by news that the U.S. economy expanded more than expected in the second quarter of the year.
U.S. gross domestic product expanded at a 3.7 percent annualized rate in Q2 2015, beating all economists’ estimates surveyed by Bloomberg, and much better than the initial estimate of 2.3 percent growth.
U.S. oil climbed 10.3 percent, or $3.96, to $42.56 a barrel, while Brent crude rose 10.3 percent to $47.56 a barrel.
According to a report from the Energy Information Administration, U.S. crude stockpiles unexpectedly dropped last week.
Oil has plunged over recent months because of a global supply glut and fears of a China-led economic crisis. Prices are still about 30 percent lower than this year’s closing peak in June.
According to Bloomberg, David Lennox, an analyst at Fat Prophets in Sydney, said in a telephone interview that the volatility in the market will continue.
Lennox told Bloomberg: “Any rallies are going to be quite extreme and probably short. There is adequate global oil supplies and we still have more than 450 million in U.S. stockpiles.”
U.S. gasoline prices still expected to drop in the fall
Tom Kloza, global head of energy analysis at Oil Price Information Service, told the Associated Press:
“One up day in a sea of consistent summer selling does not make for an imminent recovery in crude oil, or in gasoline,”
Kloza added that the Oil Price Information Service expects pump prices to drop 12 cents to 17 cents a month from September through December.
According to OPIS and AAA, the average price for a gallon on gas on Thursday was $2.53, which is 90 cents less than the average price last year.
