By Gina Lee

Investing.com – Oil was up on Thursday morning in Asia, with oil futures rising in early trading and recovering some of the prior day’s losses. Investors also took into account the assertion that an increase in oil demand would not negate a shutdown of Russian oil supply.

The price of crude oil rose by 1.73% to $99.72 at 12:30 AM ET (3:30 AM GMT), and rose by 1.75% up to $96.70. Brent and WTI futures closed lower Wednesday due to an unexpected increase in crude oil stockpiles in the United States and signs of progress in Russia-Ukraine peace negotiations.

The black liquid started the session higher following a report by the IEA that said 3 million barrels per daily of Russian oil output might be stopped due to Western sanctions. Buyers are advised not to buy Russian products. This will result in an increase of one million barrels per hour (bpd) in the demand, as a result of higher prices.

Edward Moya (OANDA Senior Market Analyst) stated in a note that “questions about how much Russian crude oil will continue swinging and uncertainty in what kind of crude demand destruction it will get will keep the energy marketsjittery.”

The Wednesday decision of the U.S. Federal Reserve was ignored by most markets. The central bank raised its interest rate by 0.5%.

Meanwhile, Wednesday’s U.S. showed a build of 4.345 million barrels for the week ending Mar. 11. Forecasts prepared by Investing.com predicted a 1.3775-million-barrel draw, while a 1.863-million-barrel draw was recorded during the previous week.

The day before, the build was 3.754 Million barrels.