Oil prices ticked higher on Friday, recouping some of the previous session's losses, as a weaker dollar encouraged buying but investors remained cautious after Russian production figures showed weak compliance with a global deal to cut output. Global benchmark Brent was up 19 cents at $55.27 a barrel, recovering some of Thursday's losses that amounted to more than 2%. WTI traded at $52.69 a barrel, up 8 cents on the previous close, Reuters reported.
"The market is range bound, therefore there is nothing surprising in seeing fresh buying after a big sell-off and of course the slightly weaker dollar is also helping oil recover," said Tamas Varga, senior analyst at London brokerage PVM Oil Associates.
US Dollar Index slipped from a seven-week high on Friday ahead of a key speech by Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen. A weaker greenback makes it more attractive to buy dollar-denominated currencies like oil futures.
But oil gains were capped after concerns remained over non-OPEC compliance with a global deal to rein in oversupply. Official US data also showed that crude inventories in the world's biggest oil consumer rose for an eighth straight week to a record 520.2 million barrels last week.
