Oil settles up nearly $4 as tight supply outweighs recession fears | Reuters

Oil settles up nearly $4 as tight supply outweighs recession fears | Reuters

Oil prices settled sharply higher on Thursday, rebounding from steep losses the previous two sessions, as investors returned their focus to tight supply despite nagging fears of a potential global recession.

Brent crude futures were up $3.96, or 3.9%, at $104.65 a barrel. U.S. WTI crude futures climbed $4.20, or 4.3%, to $102.73 a barrel.

Trade was volatile. At session lows, prices were down about $2.

Wall Street's main indexes opened higher, making up for some losses last week tied to recession fears as central banks aggressively hike interest rates to fight inflation. read more

"With Russian oil supplies set to drop as the year progresses and it runs out of Western parts to maintain fields, and with the rest of OPEC hopelessly uninvested in maintaining production capacity, I fear the days of $100 oil will be with us for some time yet," said Jeffrey Halley, a senior market analyst at OANDA.