Oil closed higher on Thursday, with Brent crude back above the $110 a barrel mark, after reports that the European Union is preparing an embargo on Russian crude exports.

A barrel of North Sea Brent for June delivery gained 2.68% to $111.70. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for May delivery advanced 2.58 percent to $106.95. In early morning trading, prices were down slightly following the release of U.S. inventories the previous day, which were higher than expected.

U.S. commercial crude oil reserves jumped by 9.4 million barrels in the week ended April 8, according to figures released by the U.S. Energy Information Agency (EIA) on Wednesday. Crude inventories, however, remain 13% below the five-year average.