02:37 PM EDT, 06/26/2025 (MT Newswires) -- West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil closed with a small gain on Thursday, rising for a second day on signs of solid U.S. summer demand and a falling dollar while the market is eyeing coming supply hikes from OPEC+.

WTI crude oil for August delivery closed up US$0.32 to settle at US$65.24 per barrel, while August Brent crude was last seen down US$0.14 to US$67.54.

The rise comes after the Energy Information Agency on Wednesday reported U.S. commercial crude oil inventories fell by fell by 5.8-million barrels last week, well more than the consensus estimate for a 0.8-million barrel drop and leaving stocks 11% under the five-year average. Gasoline inventories also fell, showing strong demand amid the U.S. summer driving season.

A weaker dollar is also providing price support, with the ICE dollar index on Thursday falling to the lowest in more than three years.

Still, supply is on the rise as OPEC+ readies to add a fourth tranche of 411,000 barrels per day of production hikes beginning on July 1 and will meet July 6 to decide on whether to add another same-sized increase in August.

"We have now reached peak run season, and still a sizeable amount of crude oil is expected to come on in the third quarter of this year," Brian Leisen, Global Oil Strategist at RBC Capital Markets, wrote.