Oil prices rebound as traders assess geopolitical risks

NEW YORK, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- Oil prices climbed on Wednesday, recouping some of the massive losses they had suffered in the prior session, as traders weighed geopolitical tensions.

The West Texas Intermediate for March delivery added 1.59 U.S. dollars, or 1.7 percent, to settle at 93.66 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for April delivery increased 1.53 dollars, or 1.6 percent, to close at 94.81 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.

The above market moves followed a major setback on oil market, which saw the U.S. crude benchmark and Brent drop 3.6 percent and 3.3 percent, respectively, on Tuesday.

Concerns about Russia-Ukraine tensions and the resulting delivery outages remain a key driver.

"If the situation calms further, a continued price slide is probable as the risk premium would then be likely to decline," Carsten Fritsch, energy analyst at Commerzbank Research, said Wednesday in a note.

Traders also digested weekly U.S. fuel inventory data.

U.S. crude oil stockpiles increased by 1.1 million barrels during the week ending Feb. 11, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported on Wednesday. Analysts surveyed by S&P Global Platts forecast the U.S. crude supplies to show a fall of 200,000 barrels.

According to the EIA, total motor gasoline inventories decreased by 1.3 million barrels last week, while distillate fuel inventories decreased by 1.6 million barrels.