There has been plenty of volatility in the oil price this year, but the general direction of travel has been only one way – down.

After a close to 6 percent rise in the WTI oil price to $47.15 on Wednesday, traders are increasingly optimistic that oil may have hit its lowest level of the recent cycle in August, when it fell to $37.75.

“The present price action on WTI still suggests to us that a turn is developing,” Citi analysts, who have been bullish on the commodity for some time, argued in a research note Thursday morning.

Wednesday’s leap in the price was motivated by several different factors: reports that U.S. crude inventories fell in the most recent week; increased concerns about U.S. involvement in the Middle East and, as with much of the rest of the market, second-guessing whether the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) will move to hike interest rates for the first time in more than a decade on Thursday.

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