Russia reiterates openness to meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC countries

Oil futures were bouncing back on Wednesday afternoon after Russia´s foreign minister reiterated his country was open to negotiations aimed at stabilising oil prices.

According to Sergei Lavrov, if there was a consensus among the member nations of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries and those from outside on the need to sit down and discuss the situation "then they will meet".

On Tuesday, the Russian Federation reported it had increased its oil output to just under 10.9m barrels per day in January, according to a research report from Commerzbank cited by Reuters.

That came amid support remarks from some leading oil industry analysts, such as VM Oil Associates´ Tamas Varga, who said, "Is there going to be a meeting between Russia and OPEC? That is a supportive factor in this rally. Countries are at the brink of default ... so the situation is dire."

As of 12:37GMT front month Brent crude futures were higher by 1.8% to $33.34 per barrel on the ICE, alongside gains of 1.87% to $30.45 per barrel on the NYMEX.