Oil rose on Thursday, spurred by rising tensions in the Middle East, output cuts by producing nations to tackle oversupply and the promise of more government stimulus to ease the economic pain of the new coronavirus pandemic.

Brent crude LCOc1 was up $1.78, or 8.7%, at $22.15 a barrel by 09ز40 GMT. U.S. crude CLc1 rose $1.87, or 13.6%, at $15.65 a barrel.

Oil prices have suffered one of their most tumultuous weeks ever. The expiring front-month U.S. contract CLc1 on Monday fell into negative territory for the first time as traders paid buyers to take crude off their hands given a lack of storage space for the current supply glut.

So far this year, Brent has lost roughly two thirds of its value.