U.S.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLC1 were trading at $41.15 per
barrel at 0139 GMT, up 32 cents, or 0.8 percent, after rising 3.3 percent and
back over $40 the previous session.
The jumps on Wednesday and Thursday
marked at least a temporary end to a sharp downward trend since June, which saw
crude futures lose some 20 percent of their value.
"Oil prices rallied after the EIA weekly report
showed gasoline inventories declined the most at this time of the year for at
least five years," ANZ bank said