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Brent crude eased by 9 cents, or 0.1%, to $80.68 a barrel by
1035 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude gained 23 cents, or
0.3%, to $77.30.
U.S. crude oil stocks fell by about 6.1 million barrels in the
week ended April 21, according to market sources citing American
Petroleum Institute (API) figures on Tuesday. Analysts had
expected crude inventories to fall by about 1.5 million barrels.
Gasoline inventories fell by 1.9 million barrels last week while
distillate inventories rose by 1.7 million barrels, the sources
said. Official stockpiles data from the U.S. government is due
on Wednesday.
U.S. crude oil stockpiles have been falling since the middle of
March as refineries have increased runs to produce more gasoline
ahead of the peak summer demand period that starts in May. This
has pushed WTI futures prices into backwardation, when prompt
futures are higher than later-dated futures, reflecting the
higher refinery demand.
Oil prices dived more than 2% on Tuesday, moving towards the
level before the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries (OPEC) and producer allies such as Russia, known
collectively as OPEC+, announced an additional output reduction
until the end of the year.
While the API data pushed the market higher on Wednesday,
lingering economic concerns and expectations of further interest
rate hikes that could curtail fuel demand growth are countering
signs of improving short-term consumption gains.
U.S. consumer confidence dropped to a nine-month low in April as
worries about the future mounted, heightening the risk of the
economy falling into recession this year.
"This (data) will add credence to claims that the U.S. economy
is edging closer to a recession," said PVM Oil's Stephen
Brennock.
Investors also showed concern that potential interest rate hikes
by inflation-fighting central banks could slow economic growth
and dent energy demand in the United States, Britain and the
European Union.
The U.S. Federal Reserve, the Bank of England and the European
Central Bank are all expected to raise rates at their coming
meetings. The Fed meets over May 2-3.
(Reporting by Ahmad GhaddarAdditional reporting by Muyu Xu
Editing by David Goodman)
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