Investing.com - Crude oil prices edged higher on Wednesday, staying within sight of their strongest level in months amid speculation weekly supply data due later in the session will show U.S. crude stockpiles declined for the first time in four weeks.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration will release its official weekly oil supplies report at 10:30AM ET (1430GMT).
After markets closed Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute said that U.S. oil inventories unexpectedly declined by 761,000 barrels in the week ended September 22 as refiners raised output.
The API report also showed a gain of 1.5 million barrels in gasoline stocks, while distillate stocks fell by 4.5 million barrels.
There are often sharp divergences between the API estimates and the official figures from EIA.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures tacked on 24 cents, or around 0.5%, to $52.12 a barrel by 3:40AM ET (0740GMT). It traded as high as $52.43 in the prior session, a level last seen since April 19.
Meanwhile, Brent crude futures, the benchmark for oil prices outside the U.S., added 6 cents, or about 0.1%, to $57.98 a barrel. It reached a 26-month peak of $58.88 a day earlier.
Oil futures finished lower Tuesday for the first time in three sessions, but losses were capped amid growing optimism that the crude market was well on its way towards rebalancing.
Prices have gained roughly 20% from their June lows, meeting the definition of a bull market, as data showed strong compliance from major producers with their supply cut agreement and as talk grows of a likely extension of the deal.
In May, OPEC and non-OPEC members led by Russia agreed to extend production cuts of 1.8 million barrels per day for a period of nine months until March 2018 in a bid to reduce global oil inventories and support oil prices.
Elsewhere, gasoline futures were at $1.638 a gallon, down 0.6%, while natural gas futures added 0.5% to $3.015 per million British thermal units.