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Brent crude futures rose 5 cents to $81.41 a barrel by 0640 GMT,
while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 2
cents at $76.89.
Both benchmarks settled at multi-month lows on Thursday, with
Brent crude futures closing at their weakest since February and
U.S. crude futures hitting a three-month low.
Brent futures were headed for a weekly decline of more than 3%,
and WTI futures were poised for a slide of nearly 4% from last
week, as ongoing macroeconomic constraints in the U.S. held
prices in the balance.
"The backdrop of 'possibly higher-for-longer rates' weighed
significantly on oil prices this week," said Priyanka Sachdeva,
a senior market analyst at Phillip Nova.
Minutes released on Wednesday from the Fed's latest policy
meeting showed policymakers questioning whether current interest
rates are high enough to tame stubborn inflation.
Some officials said they would be willing to hike borrowing
costs again if inflation surged. Fed Chair Jerome Powell and
other policymakers, however, have since said they feel further
rate hikes are unlikely.
Higher rates could slow economic growth and crimp fuel demand.
Meanwhile, strengthening U.S. gasoline demand was helping to
stabilise prices ahead of the Memorial Day holiday weekend,
which is considered the start of the U.S. summer driving season.
Gasoline demand in the U.S. reached its highest level since
November, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on
Wednesday. That helped support the market as U.S. drivers
account for around a tenth of global oil demand, "making the
upcoming driving season a pillar of the recovery in global
demand growth," ANZ analysts said in a note.
All eyes are now on the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries and its allies, together called OPEC+, and their
meeting on June 1 to discuss whether to extend voluntary oil
output cuts of 2.2 million barrels per day.
"The market is also tentative about taking an aggressive
positioning ahead of next week's OPEC meeting, where supply
policy will be discussed," the ANZ analysts said.
(Reporting by Georgina McCartney in Houston and Jeslyn Lerh in
Singapore; Editing by Sonali Paul and Tom Hogue)
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