LONDON (Reuters) -Oil prices rose on Thursday after a plunge the previous day, as data showed a jump in refinery runs at the world’s top crude importer China, but a weak economic backdrop capped gains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Brent crude\u00a0futures were up 84 cents, or 1.15%, to $74.04 a barrel at 0959 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 77 cents, or 1.13%, to $69.04 a barrel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Both benchmarks fell 1.5% on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The market saw support after data on Thursday showed China’s oil refinery throughput in May rising 15.4% from a year earlier, hitting its second highest total on record.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chinese demand for oil is seen continuing to rise at an assured rate during the second half of the year, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation’s (KPC) chief executive said on Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But a weak economic outlook weighed, as China’s industrial output and retail sales growth in May missed forecasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also capping price gains were fears that higher interest rates would slow economies in the United States and Europe, and lower oil demand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The U.S. Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged on Wednesday but signalled at least half of a percentage point increase to borrowing costs by the end of this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The European Central Bank is expected to increase the deposit rate by 25 basis points to 3.5% later in the day, the highest level in 22 years, and leave the door open to further hikes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, the Bank of England is set to make its monetary policy decision on June 22, with UK interest rates expected to rise above those in the United States this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Analysts, however, expect oil prices to see support later in the year as voluntary cuts by OPEC+ countries implemented in May, and from Saudi Arabia in July, coincide with robust demand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
UBS expects a supply deficit of around 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) in June and more than 2 million bpd in July.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Once these deficits become visible in on-land oil inventories, we expect oil prices to trend higher,” the bank said in a note on Thursday.<\/p>\n