Brent hit $44.14 per barrel the previous day, the lowest since May, and the contract has shed more than 15% in value since peaking in June, as a refined product glut as well as slowing economic growth dent the demand outlook for crude.

Analysts said they expected more price declines in the short term as oversupply continued while demand growth stutters.

"My view is that oil prices will find a low between $39 and $42 per barrel over the coming weeks due to headwinds," said Ric Spooner, chief market analyst at CMC Markets in Sydney, Australia.

"After that, however, we are coming closer to seeing a balanced market again," he added, saying that $50 to $60 per barrel would represent such a supply and demand balance.

Oil markets have been dogged by oversupply in the last two years, which pulled down prices by as much as 70% between 2014 and early 2016, when Brent hit a more than decade-long low of around $27 per barrel.