Oil Markets Rebound on Expectations of Higher Demand

Oil prices continue their recovery from last week’s multi-year lows, but analysts believe that rising global inventories could eventually gap gains.

MOSCOW, (Sputnik) —   Crude prices closed more than 4 percent higher on Thursday as the continuing conflict in Libya and an expected boost in oil demand following China's central bank easing helped the market rebound.

European benchmark Brent North Sea crude for delivery in March was up 0.64% Friday hitting $59.93 a barrel.  West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures for next month edged up 1.2% to settle at $51.09 a barrel.

The upswing comes even as US oil inventories registered an 80-year record jump of a staggering 6.3 million barrels to reach 413.1 million in a single week ending January 30 revising upwards an earlier estimate of just 3.75 million.

Some analysts doubt the current oil price rebound will be sustained as supplies still far outweigh demand.

"The increasingly wide oversupply and weak demand imbalance for this resource won't allow a sustained recovery for oil in the near term," said Nicholas Teo, market analyst with CMC Markets in Singapore.