Oil futures were higher on Friday, but still hovered near three-month lows after a persistent oversupply has trimmed prices by
up to 13% since the beginning of November.
On Friday January Brent futures lost 0.09% to trade at $44.16 a barrel, following the previous session's 10% gain.
U.S. crude's West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures for January delivery were quoted higher 0.16% at $41.86 a barrel.
Markets are worried that Iranian oil could come in, said Daniel Ang from Phillip Futures Pte Ltd, adding that oil markets are indeed moving range bound, as fundamentals have yet to change.
"Uncertainty is so high in the world's crude markets which are in rebalancing procedures. Prices will have high volatility in 2016 and particularly in the first half there is a high risk of falling prices," Kang Yoo-jin, commodities analyst at NH Investment and Securities based in Seoul, said in a report.
ANZ bank noted earlier the spread between near-month futures and December 2016 contract prices has touched a new record of nearly $8 a barrel.
Since mid-2014, crude futures have already lost around 60 percent of their value, as supply offsets demand by roughly 0.7 million to 2.5 million barrels per day to produce a glut that analysts say will pass well into 2016.
According to market data, oil traders are getting ready for another downturn in prices by March 2016, as what is expected to be an unusually warm winter undermines demand. Moreover, Iran's resurgent crude exports are expected to pour into global markets after sanctions are lifted.
