The August light, sweet crude contract on NYMEX gained 37¢ on June 26 to settle at $43.38/bbl. The September contract was up 34¢ to close at $43.61/bbl. The NYMEX natural gas price for July gained nearly 10¢ to a rounded $3.03/MMbtu. The Henry Hub cash gas price was $2.98/MMbtu, up 12¢. The Brent crude contract for August on London’s ICE increased 29¢ to $45.83/bbl while the September contract was up 29¢ to $46.04/bbl. The July gas oil contract dropped $1.75 to $409.50/tonne. OPEC’s basket of crudes on June 26 was $43.14/bbl, down 12¢.

Global benchmark Brent crude futures were trading up 45 cents, or 1.0 percent, at $45.99 per barrel at 0623 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 43 cents, or 1.0 percent, at $43.44 per barrel.

“Prices can go below $40 a barrel given the market is being dictated by sentiment and not fundamentals. There is nothing to stop it right now.”

Brent futures LCOc1 settled up 32 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $45.54 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) CLc1 ended up 27 cents, or 0.6 percent, at $43.01 per barrel.

On Wednesday, Brent LCOc1 was flat at $46.02 a barrel, while U.S. crude futures CLc1 added 4 cents to $43.55.

Prices have fallen more than 20 per cent from their levels in early January, which they last touched in the summer of 2015. A decline of more than 20 per cent from a most recent high is typically considered a bear market.

U.S. crude for July delivery lost 97 cents, or 2.2%, to $43.23 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, trading at prices it hasn't settled below since Aug. 10. A settlement at $43.56 a barrel or lower put oil into a bear market, which means it has lost 20% or more since the recent high, a nearly one-year high on Feb. 23.

Brent futures were up 4 cents at $46.95 at 0214 GMT. On Monday, they fell 46 cents, or 1 percent, to settle at $46.91 a barrel. That was their lowest since Nov. 29, the day before the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other producers agreed to cut output for six months from January. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down 1 cent at $44.19 a barrel. They declined 54 cents, or 1.2 percent in the previous session, to settle at $44.20 per barrel, the lowest close since Nov. 14. The July contract will expire on Tuesday and August will become the front-month.

Brent crude oil LCOc1 was up 48 cents at $48.34 a barrel by 12:17 p.m. EDT. U.S. crude CLc1 was 39 cents higher at $46.04 a barrel. U.S. crude and Brent benchmarks remained on track for weekly declines of more than 3 percent, pressured by big U.S. inventories and heavy worldwide flows.

Brent crude LCOc1 was up 43 cents by 0900 GMT at $48.49 a barrel, having fallen 4 percent the day before, while U.S. crude futures CLc1 rose 38 cents to $46.10 a barrel.