A barrel of European reference oil Brent trades for USD 74.12 Wednesday morning against USD 73.07 Tuesday afternoon. US counterpart West Texas Intermediate sells concurrently for USD 71.37 against USD 70.31, Reuters reports.

According to the news agency, neither Australia nor the UK wish to impose further restrictions to contain Covid-19 infection.

The countries' governments are opting to hold back on setting new restrictions in the hope of being able to avoid or postpone such measures, spurring investor optimism about these decisions helping to buoy oil demand.

Wednesday, a high-ranking civil servant involved in Chinese economic planning has presented the country's plans to support economic growth – a package entailing increased public spending, more support for production, and stabilization of supply chains.

China's measures to maintain economic growth will undoubtedly influence the oil market as the Asian country is the world's largest crude importer, resulting in increased risk appetite among investors, the news agency writes.

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