Oil futures sank along with equities, which often serve as demand indicator for crude, as investors fretted about the possibility of an economic downturn
Brent crude futures were up $1.26 cents, or 1.2%, at $103.58 a barrel by 1355 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate contracts were up $1.14 cents, or 1.2%, at $99.68.
Brent fell as low as $97.44 and WTI hit $93.54, their lowest since Feb. 25.
OPEC+, at monthly back-to-back meetings that lasted less than an hour, decided to stick to a decision from last year for an output target of 400,000 barrels per day for April as well.
Japanese and Indian officials are working on ways to release national reserves of crude oil in tandem with the United States and other major economies to dampen prices, seven government sources with knowledge of the plans told Reuters.
The OPEC+ group of major producers agreed on Thursday to stick to their plan to raise oil output by 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) from December, ignoring calls from U.S. President Joe Biden for extra output to cool rising prices.
Crude stocks rose more by 3.3 million barrels in the most recent week, more than expected, but gasoline stocks fell to their lowest level since November 2017.
While China's red-hot power and coal markets have cooled somewhat after government intervention, energy prices remain elevated worldwide as temperatures fall with the onset of the northern winter.
Market participants will take further cues from weekly EIA inventory data to be released later in the day.
Authorities from Beijing to Delhi scrambled to fill a yawning power supply gap on Tuesday, triggering global stock and bond market wobbles on worries that rising energy costs will stoke inflation.
The pace of economic recovery from the pandemic, combined with cold weather have supercharged energy demand, coming at a time when pressure on governments to accelerate the transition to cleaner energy has slowed investment in oil projects.
US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said on Wednesday that the administration is considering tapping the country's Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to cool a surge in gasoline prices, the Financial Times reported.
On Monday, OPEC, Russia and other allies, known as OPEC+, chose to stay with a plan to increase output gradually and not boost it further as the United States and other consumer nations have been urging.
The momentum indicator Relative Strength Index is at 77.54, which indicates an overbought level in the prices.
Brent crude has given a breakout above the 50-day moving average, suggesting further upside. OPEC decision to gradually hike production and increasing global demand are expected to support prices, say experts
OPEC+ ministers "reconfirmed the production adjustment plan" previously agreed for adding 400,000 bpd in November, the group said in a statement issued after their online ministerial talks.
The momentum indicator Relative Strength Index is at 70.70, which indicates a buy in the prices.
Purohit expects the prices to trade with bullish bias in the evening hours and trade near Rs 5,600 levels.
Crude oil prices are expected to trade up for the day with resistance at $73 and support at $70 per barrel, said Patel.
"Crude has turned choppy after the recent rally and we may see some extended correction if equities remain under pressure," said Ravindra Rao, CMT, EPAT, VP- Head Commodity Research at Kotak Securities.
The CFTC data showed that money managers increased their net long positions by 24,870 lots last week.
Nicholas is the second major storm to threaten the US Gulf region in recent weeks.
Analysts said the oil market was still digesting that data from Friday as well as Saudi Aramco's move on Sunday to cut October official selling prices (OSPs) for all its crude grades sold to Asia by at least $1 a barrel.
The momentum indicator Relative Strength Index (RSI) is at 48.15, which indicates sideways movement in the prices.
OPEC+ experts on Tuesday revised the 2022 oil demand growth forecast to 4.2 million bpd, up from a previous 3.28 million bpd, potentially building the case for higher output in future.