Brent North Sea crude for delivery in May advanced 28 cents to $117.64. Crude markets were supported by news of Qadhafi's forces wresting two ports as well as key oil hub Ras Lanuf from rebel hands while successfully defending Brega, analysts said. "I think again investors are back looking at the unrest in Libya, so that is the reason why oil has hit two and half year highs," said Ong Yi Ling,  investment analyst for Phillip Futures in Singapore.

Renewed gains by Qadhafi's men spelled a prolonging of the civil strife in the war-torn oil-exporting nation, which would support crude markets. A third consecutive week of declines in US jobless claims also renewed investor confidence in the economy of the world's largest oil consumer, Ong told AFP. The number of first-time claims for unemployment insurance payments dropped to a seasonally adjusted 388,000 in the week ending March 26, from an upwardly  revised 394,000 in the prior week, the Labor Department.