USA crude’s West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures finished the session 17 cents higher at 43.04 a barrel.
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Market players looked ahead to fresh weekly information on US stockpiles of crude and refined products to gauge the strength of demand in the world’s largest oil consumer.
Oil prices rose in volatile trade on Tuesday, as markets weighed the continuing oversupply of crude against the increased geopolitical uncertainty following the Paris terror attacks.
Brent North Sea crude for January rebounded 1.56 to 46.39 a barrel, compared with Monday’s closing level.
Brent is down by more than 8 percent in November and by 20 percent this year, after tumbling from above $115 per barrel last year.
Macroeconomic concerns emerged as factors weighing on crude oil prices after tensions surrounding Middle East violence eased in Wednesday trading.
US stocks and a world stock index erased early losses to trade slightly higher by late afternoon as energy shares rallied, while the dollar fell against the traditionally safe-haven Japanese yen, helping to push gold higher.
WTI’s weakness has been also demonstrated by the growing discount between the front month to forward contracts as traders stored more crude in the hope of delivering at higher prices later.
The number of active USA oil rigs dropped by nine last week to 555, according to an oil service company Baker Hughes, extending last week’s decline.
A hike would likely boost the dollar, making oil priced in the U.S. unit more expensive for holders of weaker currencies.
The market is shifting its focus to a meeting of ministers from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, which is set for Vienna on December 4.
Meanwhile, ANZ said in a note on Wednesday that investor sentiment had improved modestly as an upcoming OPEC meeting raised some hope of modest production cuts after Saudi Arabia had spoken about cooperating with other producers to maintain price stability.
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“The conclusion would be Russian Federation would not want to take this too much further at a time when its economy is seeing some green shoots after the past two years of sanctions”, said Evan Lucas, market strategist at IG in Melbourne, adding that Turkey is Russia’s second-biggest energy customer.
