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(Bloomberg) -- Oil extended its biggest advance in a week as traders remain on edge over a possible retaliatory strike by Iran on Israel as payback for assassinations of Hezbollah and Hamas leaders.

West Texas Intermediate traded above $75 after advancing 2.8% on Wednesday, while Brent closed higher near $78. Israel continues to brace for an attack, although Iran’s president hinted at a diplomatic path to de-escalation in a phone call to French President Emmanuel Macron.

Oil has rebounded since sinking to its lowest in months on Monday following a rout in global equity markets. Fears that the Middle East conflict could impact production from Iran or other major suppliers in the region, as well as an actual halt in output from Libya’s biggest field, helped underpin recent gains.

Meanwhile, official data out of the US on Wednesday showed crude stockpiles fell for a sixth week to their lowest since February. That may alleviate some of the concerns about faltering demand in the biggest consumer, but there were builds at the key Cushing storage hub and in gasoline.

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