“The sentiment is still quite negative and depressed on oil prices”, said Eugen Weinberg, analyst at Commerzbank.
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WTI light sweet crude for September was up 25 cents at USD39.76 a barrel, trimming significant losses from the past few sessions.
The Energy Information Administration is due to release its weekly petroleum status report for the week ended July 29th at 10:30 am ET.
It was a second straight day of gains for crude futures from April lows below $40 after Wednesday’s 3 percent run-up powered by data showing a hefty USA gasoline inventory drawdown.
Some 20 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg said that global oil prices will rebound to an average of $57 a barrel in 2017, but with slow progress.
Brent crude futures were down 33 cents and traded at $42.77 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures slipped 14 cents and traded at $40.69 per barrel, Reuters reported.
World oil prices advanced Wednesday as tumbling U.S. motor fuel stockpiles offset news of a surprise increase in crude reserves, dealers said.
After starting Friday, August 5, on a weaker note, crude oil remained volatile throughout the day.
“But a return to the lows that we saw earlier this year seems unlikely, and there are other reasons to think that prices will begin to rise again before long”.
The Energy Department on Wednesday released mixed data on United States production and inventories of crude and gasoline – figures closely watched by investors. On the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), brent crude for October delivery wavered between $41.58 and $43.28 a barrel, before settling at $43.03, up 1.22 or 2.92% on the day.
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US crude inventories rose for a second week in a row, gaining 1.4 million barrels last week, compared with analysts’ expectations for a decrease of 1.4 million barrels, Energy Information Administration (EIA) data showed. The data shows that amateur investors also expect a drawdown in crude oil inventories in today’s data. However the country’s crude supply managed to increase 1.4 million barrels last week, as compared to the markets’ expected drop of 1.4 million barrels.
