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 The gain added to a more than 7 percent surge in the previous
session, which came even though analysts said the market had
overreacted to Iran's support for the caps and the Russian-Saudi
move would not likely reduce the global surplus.
Brent <LCOc1> rose 60 cents to $35.10 a barrel by 1248 GMT, having
closed 7.2 percent higher in the previous session. U.S. crude <CLc1>
gained 65 cents to $31.31.
"It's a continuation of yesterday's move," said Carsten Fritsch,
analyst at Commerzbank. "What we see still is extreme volatility. I
would not be surprised to see prices retreating again by a big
margin in coming days."
Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh met counterparts from Venezuela,
Iraq and Qatar on Wednesday but did not say whether Iran would cap
its output in keeping with the move by Russia and Saudi Arabia.
On Thursday, Iraq's oil minister said talks would continue between
OPEC and non-OPEC countries to prop up prices.
Oil has collapsed from levels above $100 a barrel seen in mid-2014
due to excess supply, in a slide that deepened after the
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries later that year
dropped its policy of cutting supply to boost prices.
"The agreement will do little to reduce the current supply glut,"
BMI Research said in a report on Thursday.
Iran exported about 2.2 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude
before 2012, when sanctions imposed by world powers to curb Tehran's
nuclear program cut shipments to about 1.1 million bpd.
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The sanctions were lifted last month, allowing Iran to resume
selling oil to the European Union. Sources familiar with Iranian
thinking have said this week that Iran would not freeze output at
current levels.
Crude gained support after the American Petroleum Institute, an
industry group, said U.S. crude stocks unexpectedly fell by 3.3
million barrels last week.
Traders will be looking to the official weekly supply report from
the U.S. government's Energy Information Administration (EIA) at 11
a.m. EST (1600 GMT) for confirmation of the move.
"If these figures are not confirmed by the EIA this afternoon, the
current strength will turn into a rally to be sold into," broker PVM
said in a report.
(Additional reporting by Keith Wallis in Singapore; Editing by Dale
Hudson and David Evans)
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