Oil prices stabilized in early Asian trading on Thursday, after recording gains in the previous two sessions, amid indications of a strong economic recovery in China, the world's largest oil importer, offsetting the impact of concerns about rising US crude stocks.
By 0400 GMT, Brent crude futures settled at $84.30 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell slightly by about 4 cents to $77.65 a barrel.
The two crude contracts rose about 1 percent in the previous session after data showed that manufacturing activity in China in February grew at the fastest pace in more than a decade, in new evidence of economic recovery after the removal of strict Covid-19 restrictions.
However, the increase in crude oil inventories in the United States for the tenth week in a row capped the gains in the market.
The US Energy Information Administration reported that crude stocks rose by 1.2 million barrels in the week ending February 24 to 480.2 million barrels, the highest level since May 2021.
Analysts polled by Reuters had expected an increase of 500 thousand barrels.
However, record exports of US crude oil kept the increase lower than in previous weeks, as shipments rose to 5.6 million barrels per day last week, according to the Energy Information Administration.
In a note to clients, Citi analysts said US crude inventories had slowed their increases but remained above a five-year range, with the increase slowed by total exports hitting new records.
Meanwhile, crude oil being processed by Indian refineries reached record levels in January, preliminary government data showed on Wednesday, as the country boosted imports of Russian barrels that Western countries have shunned.
