Investing.com - Oil prices turned higher in choppy volatile trade on Thursday, despite lingering concerns over a global supply glut.
On the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil for February delivery tacked on 25 cents, or 0.65%, to trade at $37.64 a barrel during U.S. morning hours.
A day earlier, London-traded Brent plunged $1.34, or 3.41%, as worries that a global supply glut may stick around for longer than anticipated continued to weigh. Brent sank to $36.75, a level not seen since the depths of the 2008 global financial crisis.
Brent oil prices are on track to post an annual decline of 35% in 2015, as oversupply concerns dominated market sentiment for most of the year.
Elsewhere, crude oil for delivery in January on the New York Mercantile Exchange dipped 16 cents, or 0.45%, to trade at $35.36 a barrel.
On Wednesday, Nymex futures tumbled $1.83, or 4.9%, after the U.S. Energy Information Administration said crude oil inventories increased by 4.8 million barrels last week. Market analysts' expected a crude-stock drop of 1.4 million barrels.
At 490.7 million barrels, total U.S. crude stockpiles remain near levels not seen for this time of year in at least the last 80 years.
U.S. oil futures are down 33% so far this year amid worries over ample domestic supplies.
Oil futures have fallen sharply this month after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries failed to agree on output targets to reduce a glut of oversupply on global energy markets.
Global crude production is outpacing demand following a boom in U.S. shale oil and after a decision by OPEC last year not to cut production in order to defend market share.
Meanwhile, the spread between the Brent and the WTI crude contracts stood at $2.28, compared to $2.47 by close of trade on Tuesday.
The price gap between the two benchmarks has narrowed to the smallest level in years, signaling that the U.S. oil market is likely to grow tighter following Congress' decision to lift the ban on domestic oil exports, while a global glut gets worse.