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Oil futures were headed slightly higher early Wednesday, despite a report on U.S. inventories that showed an unexpected rise in crude stockpiles.
The American Petroleum Institute reported late Tuesday that U.S. crude supplies rose by 2 million barrels for the week ended July 3, according to sources.
Crude stocks at the Cushing, Okla., storage hub, meanwhile, edged up by 2.2 million barrels for the week, sources said.
Inventory data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration will be released Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time. The EIA data are expected to show crude inventories declined by 3.7 million barrels last week, according to analysts polled by S&P Global Platts.
On Wednesday, West Texas Intermediate crude for August CLQ20, +0.29% traded 11 cents, or 0.3%, higher at $40.73 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after ending virtually unchanged on Tuesday.
CLQ20, +0.29% Global benchmark Brent oil for September BRNU20, +0.41% added 18 cents, or 0.4%, at $43.26 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange, following a decline of less than 0.1% in the previous session.
