Oil prices rebounded on Thursday after hitting new annual lows the day before.
International benchmark Brent crude traded at $78.27 per barrel at 10.21 a.m. local time (0721 GMT), up 1.43% from the closing price of $77.17 a barrel in the previous trading session.
At the same time, American benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) traded at $73.16 per barrel, a 1.60% gain after the previous session closed at $72.01 a barrel.
Brent dropped to the lowest level of the year at $76.91 on Thursday.
Global supply and demand imbalances, as well as China's efforts to ease COVID-19 restrictions, all contributed to higher prices.
Data showing a larger-than-expected drop in US inventories also boosted prices.
The Energy Information Administration reported that inventories declined by around 5.2 million barrels to 413.9 million barrels during the week ending Dec. 2, against the market expectation of a fall of around 3.9 million barrels.
Nonetheless, the rise in oil prices was tempered by an expected drop in fuel demand as a result of the economic downturn.
By Zeynep Beyza Kilic
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr