Brent crude for May delivery went up 0.51 percent to settle at $56.86 a barrel. US May futures were up 0.06 percent at $50.82 a barrel.
Both benchmarks dropped around $3.50 on Wednesday.
"The German data provided some lift early because it comes even before the expected economic boost from central bank quantitative easing and any sign that an agreement with Iran isn't going to get done is bullish," said Phil Flynn, analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago.
Adding to Thursday’s rally were comments from Iran suggesting Tehran will only sign a final nuclear accord with six world powers if all sanctions imposed over its disputed nuclear program are lifted on the same day.
An adviser to Saudi oil minister Ali al-Naimi said on Thursday that the previous slide in oil prices was temporary and that global oil demand was expected to grow annually by up to one million barrels per day.
