Oil rose towards $60 a barrel today in trade muted by the long US Thanksgiving holiday weekend, after tumbling on a rise in stockpiles in the world's top oil consumer.
Prices had dropped nearly $1 on Wednesday after a US government report showed crude stocks rose by 5.1 million barrels last week, much more than expected, adding to already ample supplies.
US crude was up 48 cents at $59.72 a barrel. London Brent gained 54 cents to $59.89 earlier this morning.
The New York Mercantile Exchange is shut for the two-day Thanksgiving holiday, while electronic trade is continuing.
Oil's drop from a record high of $78.40 hit in July prompted the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries in October to cut oil output by 1.2 million barrels per day from November 1st.
But rising inventories and analysts' scepticism over whether OPEC, which pumps more than a third of world supply, will adhere to the cutback in full has pressured prices.