Brent crude futures for October rose 17 cents, or 0.2%, to $85.66 a barrel by 0133 GMT. The October contract expires on Thursday and the more active November contract was at $85.08 a barrel, up 17 cents.
Investors await key U.S. economic data later this week that will help determine the path of interest rates this year and next. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Friday said the U.S. central bank may need to raise rates further to cool stubborn inflation.
Oil benefited from a better tone on the opening, IG market analyst Tony Sycamore said, after China halved stamp duty on stock trading effective Monday in the latest attempt to boost struggling markets.
Limiting gains, economic news from Germany, Europe s biggest economy, was weak and the U.S. dollar rose to a five-month high against a basket of other currencies after U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell further interest rate hikes may be needed to fight inflation.
Oil settled modestly higher in the previous session after Dutch consultancy Insights Global posted data showing gasoil stocks held in independent storage in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) refining and storage hub declined by 3% in the latest week.