Oil prices rebounded on Thursday from sharp falls in the previous session, but gains continue to be capped by worries about the oversupply of crude and a slowdown in the Chinese economy.

Brent, the global benchmark, rose 18 cents, or 0.4%, to $47.93 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.

Light, sweet crude for November delivery recently traded flat at $44.48 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Prices fell Wednesday after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported U.S. oil output rose last week after dropping for two consecutive weeks.

Oil companies sharply cut back on new drilling in the past year in response to the rout in oil prices. While U.S. oil output has fallen from a peak in April, the decline has not been as fast as some investors were expecting due to increased drilling efficiency.

“This [news] came as a disappointment, in particular to those market participants who had been betting on a faster reduction of the oversupply given all the previous reports of declining drilling activity [in the U.S.],” analysts at Commerzbank said in a report.

The EIA also reported an unexpectedly large drop in refinery utilization. Refineries typically run at lower rates at this time of year as they perform seasonal maintenance.

“Refining utilization fell on the back of various unplanned refinery outages and the onset of turnaround season focused in the Midcontinent, which point to further declines in the weeks ahead,” said Houston investment bank Simmons & Co. International in a note to clients. “We maintain our cautious outlook on crude prices.”

However, the report also showed a larger-than-expected decline in U.S. crude-oil stockpiles, which some investors saw as a positive sign.

“The supply glut is slowly easing, at least in North America, and should continue to disappear on the back of declining U.S. shale oil production, ” said Norbert Ruecker, head of commodities research at Julius Baer, in a note.