Oil rose from the lowest close in 15 months after a three-day rout started by the U.S. banking crisis and accelerated by options covering.
West Texas Intermediate futures traded near US$68 a barrel after tumbling around 12 per cent over the previous three sessions. The turmoil whipped up by the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and fresh upheaval at Credit Suisse Group AG has reverberated across global assets, with selling in oil gathering pace as firms tried to limit their exposure in the options market.
OPEC's top official earlier this month flagged concerns about slowing demand in Europe and the U.S., and investors will be watching to see if the rout draws a response from the group and its allies. However, traders are abandoning bets that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates amid the banking turmoil.
A long-term timespread for global benchmark Brent has weakened during the recent selloff, narrowing to US$2.94 a barrel in backwardation on Wednesday. That compares with US$5.26 at the end of last week.
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