Singapore: Brent held above $70 a barrel on Wednesday, recovering slightly from losses in the prior session as a turbulent market struggled to find a price floor.
The market has swung between sharp gains and losses since OPEC said last week that it would maintain steady output in an oversupplied market. Brent and US crude are down more than 30 percent since June and touched five-year lows on Monday.
Brent hit a high of $71.46 a barrel before trading up 13 cents at $70.67 by 0731 GMT, after falling $2 on Tuesday.
US crude was at $67.07 a barrel, off the day`s high of $67.97 but up 19 cents from the previous session when prices dropped more than $2.
American Petroleum Institute data showing a bigger-than-expected fall in crude stocks supported US oil prices.
"The market`s volatility is a result of people working out what`s going to happen next," said Jonathan Barratt, chief investment officer at Ayers Alliance Securities.
"Prices should find a volatile low at these levels" given that Russia, hurt by a drop in oil revenues, may act to prop up prices, he added.
OPEC`s oil supply fell by 340,000 barrels per day (bpd) in November as a recovery in Libya faltered, a Reuters survey found, although a lack of deliberate cutbacks by Saudi Arabia and other key members underlines their focus on defending market share.
The Kingdom would only consider cutting production if other countries, including non-OPEC producer Russia, joined in limits, former Saudi intelligence chief Prince Turki bin Faisal said.
Chart analysts, however, warned that the months-long rout is not over yet and US crude may quickly plunge towards $50 per barrel if a handful of tenuous support levels give way after a period of consolidation.
In the United States, crude inventories fell by 6.5 million barrels in the week to Nov. 28 to 373 million, according to API, versus analyst expectations for an increase of 1.3 million barrels.
Data from the US Energy Information Administration is due on Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. EST (1530 GMT).
"Although winter demand for crude oil could cause inventories to drop more than expected, we expect production to remain strong," analysts at Phillips Futures in Singapore said in a note.
