Oil edged up on Thursday, continued its earlier session recovery on escalated Middle East disruptions with OPEC meeting in focus.

Brent crude futures ticked up by 0.5% to $81.20 per barrel, while WTI added 0.4% to $78.18 a barrel.

The OPEC+ Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee is scheduled to meet online on Thursday.

Pre-meeting media reports indicated that there would be no adjustments to the cartel’s production, despite a recent drop in oil prices that has brought them close to the lowest level in two months.

However, leading producers Saudi Arabia and Russia are anticipated to downplay any intentions to start reducing production cuts.

Oil prices struggled to rise further amid ongoing concerns about the economic recovery in top importer China, particularly following a series of weak purchasing managers' index readings this week.

The Caixin PMI data revealed an unexpected contraction in China’s manufacturing sector, consistent with the government PMI reading released on Wednesday.

The readings increased pressure on Beijing to introduce more stimulus measures, even though the government has so far revealed little about its plans to bolster the economy.