LONDON—Oil futures ticked higher Thursday morning as European equity markets turned positive following the release of better-than-expected euro-zone economic data.
July's purchasing managers' index readings showed both the manufacturing and service indexes picking up.
But oil futures remain around $1.50 a barrel lower than Wednesday's intraday highs achieved before a combination of bearish weekly U.S. oil data and Wall Street falls sent prices tumbling.
In early trade, the front-month September Brent contract on London's ICE futures exchange was 24 cents higher at $75.61 a barrel.
The front-month September contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange traded 40 cents up at $76.96 a barrel.
The ICE's gasoil contract for August delivery was $1.50 higher at $638.50 a metric ton, while Nymex gasoline for August delivery was 0.67 cents firmer at 207.45 cents a gallon.
The Department of Energy said Wednesday that U.S. crude oil stockpiles rose by 360,000 barrels in the week ended July 16, contrary to analyst expectations of a 1.3-million-barrel draw.
Gasoline stocks rose almost 1.2 million barrels, a larger increase than the anticipated 700,000-barrel build. Distillate stocks, including heating oil and diesel, rose 3.9 million barrels, double the expected increase.
"Oil-product inventories are therefore still well above the long-term average," said Eugen Weinberg, head of commodity research at Commerzbank. "This suggests lower refinery margins and lower crude-oil processing in the weeks ahead, although the demand for oil products has picked up in the past few weeks."
Concerns also eased Thursday that stormy weather could move into the Gulf of Mexico, which would disrupt crude-oil production and supplies into the U.S. The National Hurricane Center has downgraded the chances of a weather system in the Caribbean developing into a tropical storm to 40%, down from 70% Wednesday.
"Nevertheless, Shell began pulling nonessential staff from Gulf of Mexico operations on Wednesday on account of this threat, minimal as it seems to be at this stage," said Ed Meir, analyst at MF Global.
