Oil inched up towards $60 after sliding to its lowest level this year today, as dealers anticipated a big jump in already healthy US inventories.
US March crude oil futures gained 30 cents to $59.87 a barrel by 0944 GMT, recovering from a dip to a low of $59.31.
The market had tumbled $1.67 yesterday.
London April Brent crude was up 34 cents at $59.86.
US prices have lost about 12 per cent since the end of January and analysts said the spotlight had swung away from supply disruption risks and back to fundamentals, particularly with robust stock levels seen in the United States.
US crude oil supplies were seen rising 1.2 million barrels last week on high imports while refiners maintained their run rates, a Reuters survey of analysts showed ahead of US government data due this afternoon.