Oil attempts tepid-recovery in Asia

Oil prices on both the sides of the Atlantic edged higher this Thursday, rebounding slightly from steep losses booked a day before on bearish EIA stockpiles data.

Oil recovers ahead of US data

Currently, both crude benchmarks flip to gains, with Brent up 0.70% at $ 46.17, while WTI gains +0.40% to $ 43.75. Oil stages a minor-rebound so far this session as traders unwind their oil shorts heading into a fresh batch of US economic releases due later on the day, which may have significant impact on the USD, eventually  influencing the USD-denominated black gold.

On Wednesday, oil prices reversed course and dropped 3% after the EIA weekly inventory report showed that inventories of distillates and gasoline rose more-than expected, outweighing a surprise drawdown in the crude stockpiles. The US crude inventories fell by 559,000 barrels during the last week, against an expected build of 3.8 million barrels. Further, prospects of increased oil exports from Libya also added to Wednesday’s sell-off.