Singapore - Oil bounced back in Asia on Friday on bargain-hunting after tumbling in the previous session over a further surge in US crude reserves, adding to the global supply glut.
The US benchmark, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for April delivery, rose 84 cents to $49.01 a barrel while Brent crude for April rose 91 cents to $60.96 in afternoon trade.
WTI sank $2.82 in New York while Brent closed $1.58 lower in London.
Analysts attributed the plunge on Thursday to a delayed reaction by traders to a bigger-than-expected 9.4 million barrels increase in US crude stockpiles in the week to February 20.
The US Department of Energy said on Wednesday US crude reserves now stand at a record 434.1 million barrels.
“The build in inventories has been a factor in the price tumble but traders have kicked off from the down draft sharply,” Michael McCarthy, chief market analyst at CMC Markets in Sydney, told AFP.
“As the increases are slight at the moment, it's likely that there is some form of bargain hunting,” he said.
Crude prices lost about 60 percent of their value to about $40 between June and late January owing to an oversupply in world markets, a weak global economy and a strong dollar.
Prices have risen above multi-year lows following a slowdown in US oil drilling activities, but analysts say volatility is likely to continue for some time.
Analysts said oil investors will next be scrutinising a slew of US data to be released later Friday for clues on demand prospects in the world's biggest crude consumer.
Data to be released include those on personal consumption, pending home sales and the second reading of US 2014 fourth-quarter GDP.
AFP