A surprise drop in US crude supplies has pushed oil prices to rebound from 6-month lows, offsetting fears of an oversupply in the market.
Official data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported US crude oil inventories fell by 7 million barrels last week, compared to expectations for a decline of 275,000 barrels.
Heading into the opening of the European session, US WTI futures traded steady at $88 per barrel while Brent oil traded positively at $93 per barrel.
Earlier, both benchmarks fell to fresh 6-month lows following renewed pressure from Russia which is reported to have started to gradually increase oil production due to increased purchases from Asia.
This has prompted the country to expect its income from energy exports to increase by 38% this year which is largely due to higher oil export volumes.
Russia's forecast differs from previous expectations that the country's oil supply to the global market will be significantly reduced due to various sanctions imposed on it.
