Oil futures rose on Wednesday, helped by a weak American dollar, but crude retraced most of its gains after the U.S. government reported another weekly build in U.S. crude inventories despite strong refinery runs.
Brent futures were up 54 cents to $39.68 U.S. a barrel by noon hour Wednesday after hitting a session peak of $40.61 U.S
The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that crude inventories rose 2.3 million barrels in the last week... or less than the 3.3-million-barrel build analysts had expected.
The IEA said on Wednesday Iran was not adding as many barrels into the market as expected despite the easing of international sanctions against Tehran in January.
OPEC member Iran is expected to attend an oil producers meeting in Doha, although it may not take part in the talks.
The idea of a production freeze emerged after prices fell below $30.00 U.S. a barrel in January from as high as $115.00 U.S. in June 2014 on global oversupply spurred by U.S. production growth and rising output from oil exporter group OPEC.
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