Oil strengthens in Asia amid glut fears

Oil prices advanced in Asia in what appears to be a largely technical recovery following Wednesday’s sharp losses.

At the time of writing, Brent futures were up 50 cents or 1.10% at $46.77/barrel. WTI futures were up 57 cents or 1.27% at $45.32/barrel.

Prices suffered sharp losses on Wednesday after the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) data showed oil inventories were down less than expected last week, while distillate inventories rose the most since January along with an unexpected increase in gasoline inventories.

Oil benchmarks were also pressurized after the International Energy Agency warned of a global oil glut.