Oil rose above $43 a barrel on Thursday after falling more than $3 in the last two sessions on the back of U.S. data showing a further build in fuel stocks.
Ministers of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries meet in Vienna on Sunday where the focus could be on enforcing current bold supply cuts rather than agreeing to new output targets.
U.S. light crude for April delivery rose 82 cents to $43.15 a barrel by 1120 GMT (7:20 a.m. EDT) after falling more than 7 percent on Wednesday, when a bigger than expected U.S. crude oil build and a slump in Chinese imports triggered a wave of selling.
London Brent crude gained 87 cents to $42.27.
"If they (OPEC) do make further cutbacks it could have a supportive role but crude is stuck in a range broadly between $40 and $50 and we're at the bottom end of that range right now," said Tony Machacek at Bache Commodities.
Machacek added: "Economic doom and gloom is very much having an overall negative impact on oil prices right now.
The latest figures from China showed industrial output growth ground almost to a standstill at the start of the year, but data showing a continued surge in bank lending in February fed optimism that activity could soon rebound.
Showing similarly mixed signals, China's daily refinery output fell 2.3 percent in February from a year ago, but production improved after January's steep 9.4 percent drop, and hit a four-month high.
