Oil held steady above $79 a barrel today as the dollar held near 15-month lows against a basket of currencies, while investors waited for US government oil data for direction before taking more positions.
Rising Asian shares and gold's surge to a record high also helped to prevent a fall in prices despite expectations of a rise in crude stockpiles in the world's biggest energy consumer.
The US Energy Information Administration data, delayed by a day because of the Veteran's Day holiday, is expected to show a 600,000-barrel increase in crude stockpiles in the world's top energy user.
US crude futures gained 8 cents to $79.36 a barrel, after closing 23 cents higher on Wednesday. Brent crude futures were up 6 cents at $78.01 a barrel.
The market has gained 77 per cent so far this year but is still about 46 percent below the record high of more than $147 a barrel it hit in July last year.
Chinese crude imports hit the second-highest level in October, signalling that oil demand continues a gradual revival from a sharp slowdown in late 2008 and early this year.
The Financial Times quoted Khalid al-Falih, chief executive of Saudi Aramco, as saying that world oil demand could rise at a "reasonable pace" as the global economy recovers and oil prices in the "$70s" a barrel were in a healthy range.
Data from industry group the American Petroleum Institute released late on Tuesday showed a bigger-than-expected increase in US crude oil stockpiles, up by 1.2 million barrels in the week to November 6th.
In Europe, crude oil inventories rose in October as refiners curbed operation rates amid shrinking demand.
Although OPEC raised its forecast for world oil demand growth slightly, the oil cartel said fuel consumption might not return to levels seen before the global economic slowdown, even if growth recovers.
In its monthly report yesterday, Opec said 2010 oil demand growth would be 750,000 bpd, compared with its previous projection of 700,000 last month.
Oil companies were also quickly restoring Gulf of Mexico production shut by Tropical Storm Ida, the US Minerals Management Service said.
Reuters