Oil reversed losses today, rebounding towards $75 as confirmation of strong Chinese overall exports in May outweighed weaker demand readings in top consumer the United States.
China's exports rose 48.5 per cent in May from a year earlier and helped send oil up more than 3 per cent the previous day.
US crude for July rose as much as 35 cents to $74.73 a barrel and was up 14 cents at $74.52 a barrel at 6.30am, after trading as low as $73.72 before the exports data came out.
ICE Brent gained 2 cents to $74.29.
China will release May industrial production data tomorrow, forecast at 17.1 per cent in a Reuters survey, down from a 17.8 per cent gain in April. As in the case of exports, investors will look for evidence that the economy of the world's second-largest oil user keeps roaring ahead.
"If we continue to see a follow through in the data tomorrow, that will be the litmus paper test to show that China is with us and that growth remains robust," said Jonathan Barratt, managing director at Commodity Broking Services in Sydney.
Asian stocks extended gains today on China's strong export data, which investors hope will ease fears about a slowdown in Europe.
Still, some economists questioned whether China's momentum could be sustained given debt problems in Europe, the country's biggest overseas market.
Reuters