BENGALURU, July 2 Reuters Oil prices climbed nearly 1 on Tuesday, extending gains to twomonth highs on Tuesday on expectations of rising demand during the summer driving season and possible supply disruptions from Hurricane Beryl.

Brent crude futures rose 75 cents, or 0.87, to 87.35 a barrel by 1314 GMT, their highest since April 30. U.S. West Texas Intermediate WTI crude was up 84 cents, or 1.01, at 84.22 after touching its highest since April 26.

Both benchmarks gained about 2 in the previous session.

U.S. gasoline demand is expected to ramp up as the summer travel season picks up with the Independence Day holiday this week. The American Automobile Association has forecast that travel during the holiday period will be 5.2 higher than in 2023, with car travel up 4.8.

Also supporting oil prices is a rising risk premium linked to Middle East tensions and signs of subsiding inflation in the United States, rekindling hopes of interest rate cuts.

Markets are also watching for possible disruption to U.S. refining and offshore production after Hurricane Beryl strengthened on Monday into a potentially catastrophic category 5 storm as it moved across the eastern Caribbean.

A dangerous hurricane in the Caribbean Sea is expected to hit Mexico, intensifying concerns regarding the supply side of the equation, said Charalampos Pissouros, senior investment analyst at brokerage XM, adding that recent U.S. data supports the market view that the Federal Reserve is likely to proceed…