Investing.com -- U.S. crude futures inched up in spite of a stronger dollar on Thursday, even as Russian and Venezuelan leaders accomplished little headway in crafting a strategy to boost crashing oil prices.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, WTI crude for October delivery traded in a broad range between $45.67 and $48.42 a barrel before closing at $46.74, up 0.48 or 1.05% on the session. It marked the fifth time U.S. crude futures closed higher over the last seven sessions.
After experiencing one of its most volatile stretches since the turn of the century, Texas Long Sweet futures are showing some signs of stabilizing. Since closing near $45 a barrel on Tuesday, WTI crude has posted modest gains over the last two sessions. Previously, WTI closed more than 6% in either a positive or negative direction on four consecutive trading days. It included a spike of more than 10.25% on August 27, its largest one-day gain in more than five years.
On the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), brent crude for October delivery wavered between $49.92 and $52.45 a barrel, before settling at $50.72, up 0.23 or 0.46% on the day. The spread between the international and U.S. domestic benchmarks of crude stood at 3.98, below Wednesday's level of 4.22 at the close.
In Beijing, Russia president Vladimir Putin and Venezuela president Nicolas Maduro met on Thursday to discuss plans to address record declines in crude oil. The meeting took place as the leaders attended a military parade to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the conclusion of World War II in Asia.
While Putin declined to outline any specific actions, he reportedly told Maduro that the two nations need to work in collaboration in an effort to stabilize prices. Russia appears reluctant, though, to relinquish its market share by cutting output from its current level of around 10.7 million barrels per day.
"Both parties noted during the meeting that such unstable oil prices are not in the interests of the two countries and, of course, the countries should integrate their efforts in terms of coordination to facilitate a boost in oil prices," a Kremlin spokesman told reporters. "However, President Putin drew attention to the fact that there could be no direct actions, this is a market process. There are lots of factors which are having an impact and that should be taken into consideration very carefully."
Crude proceeds from Venezuela's state-run oil companies account for 50% of its government revenue, 95% of its exports and 25% of its GDP, according to the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations.
Energy traders await the release of oil services firm Baker Hughes (NYSE:BHI) weekly rig count on Friday for further indications on the supply-demand balance nationwide. For the week ending on August 21, U.S. oil rigs rose by one to 675, representing the eighth increase over the last nine weeks. The rig count is still down considerably from its peak above 1,600 last October, following 25 consecutive weeks of declines earlier this year.
The U.S. Dollar Index, which measures the strength of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, soared more than 0.65% to an intraday high of 96.64, as the euro fell by 1% against the dollar in midday trading. EUR/USD fell sharply after the European Central Bank kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged and lowered its short and long-term GDP and inflation projections on Thursday.
Dollar-denominated commodities such as crude become more expensive for foreign purchasers when the dollar appreciates.