West Texas Intermediate for April delivery rose as much as 76 cents to $49.62 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $49.41 at 10:08 a.m. in London. Total volume traded was in line with the 100-day average. Prices climbed $1.14 to close at $48.86 on Wednesday after falling almost 11 percent the previous seven sessions. Brent for May settlement advanced as much as 84 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $52.65 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. Prices rose 89 cents to $51.81 on Wednesday. The global benchmark crude was at a premium of $2.48 to May WTI.

The nation’s $814 billion China Investment Corp. would be the principle investor in the planned flotation by Saudi Arabian Oil Co., according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private. China National Petroleum Corp. may also invest in the IPO, they said. No formal agreement has been reached, according to the people.

Saudi Arabia has sought to boost oil sales to China, the world's second-largest oil market, after losing market share to Russia last year, by working mostly with China's top three state oil firms.

In terms of regulation and policy for the upstream oil and gas industry, much of the EU legislation and directives were either based on established UK customs and practices or are already enshrined in UK law. Although it will take some considerable time to untangle the complex regulatory and policy frameworks, the impact for the oil and gas industry is likely to be modest. In terms of the UK oil and gas tax system, little is expected to change as a result of Brexit as the EU has no remit over the UK’s fiscal regime for the industry.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) CLc1 was down 7 cents at $48.33 a barrel, as of 0716 GMT. The contract ended down 9 cents in the previous session after touching its lowest since the end of November at $47.90. Brent crude futures LCOc1 gained 3 cents to $51.32 a barrel, having settled down 2 cents on Monday after dipping as low as $50.85.

"It became evident that U.S. shale oil output has become and will remain a new global oil price regulator for the foreseeable future," Rosneft said.

Compliance of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) with an oil output cut exceeded a target, standing at 140% in February.

Pakistan's economy expanded 4.2% in 2016, foreign investment has continued to grow -- attracted by the multi-billion dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project -- and improvements in the country's security front, following the government's efforts to combat terrorism, have also led to economic gains and additional investment.

Trade between the countries fell overall last year as oil prices dropped. Japan's 2.1 trillion yen ($18.6 billion) in imports from Saudi Arabia in 2016, mostly oil and gas, dwarfed its exports of 546.3 billion yen ($4.8 billion).

U.S. Rig Count is up 288 rigs from last year's count of 480, with oil rigs up 231, gas rigs up 57, and miscellaneous rigs unchanged. Canadian Rig Count is up 217 rigs from last year's count of 98, with oil rigs up 152 and gas rigs up 65.