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Crude has rallied in 2023, with global benchmark Brent crude
topping $89 a barrel this week for the first time since early
December on the ending of China's COVID-19 controls and hopes
that the rise in U.S. interest rates will soon taper off.
"Whether or not oil prices can resume their march higher will
depend on how quickly China's crude demand bounces back this
quarter," said Stephen Brennock of oil broker PVM.
"In the meantime, attention is shifting to the state of U.S. oil
inventories."
Brent crude was up 7 cents, or 0.1%, to $86.06 a barrel by 1227
GMT after declining 2.3% in the previous session. West Texas
Intermediate (WTI) U.S. crude added 27 cents, or 0.3%, to
$80.40, after a 1.8% drop on Tuesday.
Weighing on prices was a report on Tuesday that U.S. crude
stocks rose by about 3.4 million barrels in the week ended Jan.
20, according to market sources citing American Petroleum
Institute figures.
Official inventory data from the U.S. Energy Information
Administration is out at 1530 GMT.
Also weighing on oil were concerns about an economic slowdown.
U.S. business activity contracted in January for the
seventh-straight month, figures showed on Tuesday.
Elsewhere on the supply side, volume should remain steady from
the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and
its allies, a group known as OPEC+.
An OPEC+ panel is likely to endorse the group's current policy
at a Feb. 1 meeting, OPEC+ sources said on Tuesday. OPEC+ in
October decided to trim output by 2 million barrels per day from
November through 2023 on a weaker economic outlook.
(Reporting by Yuka Obayashi and Muyu Xu; editing by Kim Coghill,
Jason Neely and Sharon Singleton)
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