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Traders were keeping a close eye on nuclear talks between
Western powers and Iran, looking for any sign of a deal to lift
sanctions on the oil-rich nation.
Oil regained some ground in early London trade, but steadied
around Wednesday's closing levels later in the morning as the
mood remained cautious ahead of Sunday's Greek referendum on the
country's bailout terms.
Brent futures were trading 29 cents higher at $62.30 per barrel
at 0946 GMT. Front-month U.S. crude futures were up 6 cents at
$57.02 per barrel.
Prices had slumped between 2.5 and 4 percent on Wednesday after
a surprise weekly rise in U.S. crude inventories, the first
build since April.
The stock increase came on the back of strong U.S. production.
"Overall, production was supported by increased output from the
Gulf of Mexico," Barclays said in a note following the
publication of the data.
Outside the United States, supply from the Organization of the
Petroleum Exporting Countries rose to a three-year high of 31.60
million barrels per day (bpd) in June, up from 31.30 million bpd
in May.
"We are going into the second half of this year with a heavily
oversupplied fundamental picture which makes any bullish price
forecast hard to accept," oil market analysts at PVM Oil
Associates wrote.
"It is difficult to avoid reminding oneself that the bigger the
inflated bubble grows the louder the bang when it bursts."
(Additional reporting by Henning Gloystein in Singapore; Editing
by Dale Hudson)
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