The August contract, which will expire after Wednesday’s settlement, earlier hit a two-month low of $43.69.
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Around 1145 GMT, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in September was up 11 cents at $46.77 a barrel.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 rose 7 cents to $44.72 a barrel.
“It’s a continuation of directionless trade”. Later Wednesday, the U.S. Energy Information Administration releases data for last week on supply and demand.
Oil prices have increased with investors watching for a signal from weekly crude stocks data in U.S. on whether the oversupply was easing.
China is the world’s second-largest oil consumer. The EIA predicts that the US will produce about 8.6 million barrels per day of crude oil this year, about 1 million barrels below its 2015 peak.
He told Reuters in an interview that Russia was not discussing coordination with OPEC and that Russian oil output would rise to 542-544 million tonnes this year, a 30-year high. US gasoline futures briefly extended losses to hit a four-month low after the surprise build. Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, fell 214,000 million barrels, versus forecasts of a 600,000-barrels rise. EIA/S If the EIA confirms a drawdown, it will be the ninth straight week in which USA crude stockpiles have fallen.
Analysts said that oil was also taking a hit from renewed strength in the dollar, which makes the commodity more expensive for anyone holding weaker currencies.
Analysts expectations had been for a 3-million-barrel draw, so when the API reported a 2.2-million-barrel move in the opposite direction, the markets responded, sending crude oil prices downward again.
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A Maltese-flagged tanker was docked at the facility and loading 76,000 tons of crude, the port’s manager said.
