Oil prices temporarily rose, but demand in Asia began to decline.

Oil prices rose Thursday after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi signaled that the central bank was ready to expand its stimulus program.

Oil markets have moved in tandem with stocks for several weeks and that appeared to be the case again Thursday, analysts said. Stocks around the world rose as Mr. Draghi left the door open to more stimulus. U.S. equities pared gains in the afternoon, and oil prices did, too.

Light, sweet crude for October delivery settled up 50 cents, or 1.1%, to $46.75 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent, the global benchmark, gained 18 cents, or 0.4%, to $50.68 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.
Both have made gains in five of the past six sessions.

ECB economists have lowered their economic growth and inflation forecasts, Mr. Draghi said. While that sounds like bad news, traders concluded that more stimulus is the likely outcome, analysts said.

U.S. stocks and crude prices reacted similarly Wednesday when middling data on U.S. employment had many thinking the U.S. Federal Reserve would be less likely to raise interest rates at its September meeting.

Last week prices had started lower as a result of a huge increase in U.S.. Energy Information Administration reported that U.S. oil stockpiles rose by 4.7 million barrels, expectations of just a 100,000-barrel increase. That persistent oversupply is likely to ultimately undermine the recent uptick in prices.

Narrowing margins have also forced Asian oil refineries across China, Japan, South Korea, Thailand and Taiwan to trim operations in recent weeks, which has started reducing crude-oil demand in Asia.

This was one of the reasons crude prices started to fall, even before the latest round of China fears emerged.

The Asian imports of West African crudes for September loading fell by 20% from a month earlier to the lowest since May 2014, and rates of Asian and Middle Eastern crude grades in particular have weakened significantly. Lower oil demand is bearish for prices.