LONDON, Aug 23: World oil prices advanced on Thursday as global financial markets continued their recovery, with concern fading that lower economic growth would dampen crude demand, traders said.

The price of Brent North Sea crude for October delivery rose by $1.01 to $69.71 per barrel.

New York’s main futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in October, increased by 61 cents to $69.87 per barrel.

On Wednesday, New York crude had touched $68.63, which was the lowest point since June 27, following news of a shock weekly increase in crude oil reserves in the United States.

“Crude futures were higher on Thursday following gains in other commodities and rallying world equity markets,” said Sucden analyst Andrey Kryuchenkov.

Crude futures had been mixed on Wednesday as traders digested the latest weekly snapshot of American crude reserves from the US Department of Energy (DoE).

American crude inventories rose by 1.9 million barrels in the week ended August 17, the DoE said.—AFP