BS
The Brent crude oil benchmark hovered around $80 a barrel on Thursday, with demand concerns and a waning war-risk premium having triggered a selloff over the past week.
Brent crude futures were up 45 cents at $79.99 a barrel by 1147 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 43 cents to $75.76.
The uptick came after both benchmarks dropped to their lowest since mid-July on Wednesday as worry over possible supply disruptions in the Middle East eased and concern over U.S. and Chinese demand intensified. Brent is nearly $20 a barrel lower than its September peak.
“It might be that this near-oversold status is causing a hiatus in selling this morning,” said John Evans of oil broker PVM, adding that there was little positive news overnight and that the week’s earlier losses reduced the impact of the latest Chinese data.
