Brent crude oil futures have seen a significant rise, closing at $79.87 per barrel, marking a $1.46 increase, up by 1.86%. This follows a series of gains, with Brent settling at $78.41 per barrel and later rising above $79. Brent crude futures rose 27 cents, or 0.34%, to $78.68 a barrel by 0103 GMT. The increase in Brent crude futures was accompanied by a rise in WTI crude futures, which settled at $74.07 per barrel and later rose to $75.08 per barrel. WTI crude futures rose 36 cents, or 0.49%, to $74.43. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) data played a role in these movements. Additionally, U.S. natural gas futures pared gains but were still up by 1.0% after the EIA reported a larger-than-expected storage build of 98 billion cubic feet, compared to the previous 84 billion cubic feet.