Amid the globally slowing demand for oil and recession fears, the benchmark US oil price dropped below $100 a barrel on Tuesday while continuing a rapid turnaround from soaring levels in recent months.
Goldman Sachs said global consumption was running ahead of supply, and inventories were nearing critically low levels, although Citigroup Inc has warned prices could fall below $70 a barrel, Bloomberg reported.
West Texas Intermediate was little changed after collapsing by 8% to the lowest close since late April as mounting angst about a slowdown spurred a sell-off in commodities including crude.
Brent crude futures rose as much as $3.08, or 2.9%, to $105.85 a barrel in early trade after plunging 9.5% on Tuesday, the biggest daily drop since March. It was last up 92 cents, or 0.9%, at $103.69 a barrel at 0243 GMT.