LONDON: Oil prices turned higher Wednesday but remained near six-year lows ahead of the latest US energy report after jitters over China's faltering economy spurred heavy losses earlier this week.
US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for October delivery added just six cents to $39.37 per barrel.
Brent North Sea crude for October climbed 14 cents in midday London deals to $43.35.
Both contracts gained on bargain-hunting Tuesday, after plummeting to their lowest levels since early 2009 a day earlier as investors fret about falling demand in the face of a world supply glut.
"US crude inventories continue to be the weekly constant mover for oil prices in this period of stagnant fundamentals," said Daniel Ang, investment analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore.
"If inventories turn out lower than estimates, we may see prices get more support and vice versa," he added.
Industry group American Petroleum Institute reportedly said Tuesday that US crude reserves shrank by 7.3 million barrels in the week to August 21.
The numbers signalled healthy demand in the world's top crude consumer ahead of the more closely watched official stockpiles report from the US Energy Information Administration later Wednesday.
Oil prices have come under pressure from concerns that China's slowing economy will curb demand for the commodities that have helped feed its astonishing growth over the past three decades.
The devaluation of the yuan two weeks ago fuelled economic fears, sparking a slump in world equities and sending commodities, as measured by the Bloomberg Commodity Index of 22 raw materials, to a 16-year-low on Monday.
China's central bank cut its benchmark lending and deposit interest rates in a bid to boost confidence in the nation's flagging economy.
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