Oil extended gains on Wednesday after rebounding sharply from near five-month lows earlier this week.
Benchmark Brent crude futures rose 0.8 percent to $79.85 per barrel, while WTI crude futures were up 0.9 percent at $74.59.
Traders and shippers braced for the prospect of more disruption in the Red Sea after Yemen's pro-Palestinian Houthi movement vowed to defy a U.S.-led naval mission and keep hitting Israeli targets in the Red Sea.
So far, shippers have reportedly diverted about more than $30 billion worth of cargo away from the Red Sea as a direct result of more than a dozen Houthi attacks in the Red Sea.
Meanwhile, the American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday reported an increase of 0.939 million barrels of crude oil in U.S. inventories for the week ending Dec. 15, defying expectations for a draw of 2.2 million barrels.
The official reading from the Energy Information Administration is due later in the day.
