Investing.com - Crude oil rices retained gains into Wednesday in as industry data on U.S. crude oil stocks showed a slightly smaller build than expected.
The American Petroleum Institute showed a 3.2 million-barrel build in oil supplies, a 3.7 million-barrel drop in gasoline inventories and a 3 million-barrel decline in distillate stocks late Tuesday.
The closely watched survey from the Energy Information Administration is due at 10:30 a.m. EDT Wednesday and the forecast is for a 3.371 million barrel build in crude supplies.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for delivery in December traded at $81.54, up 0.29%, after hitting an overnight session low of $80.37 a barrel and off a high of $81.65 a barrel.
Brent oil futures on the ICE rose 0.40% to $86.17 a barrel on Tuesday.
Overnight, an upbeat U.S. consumer confidence report offset softer-than-expected data on U.S. durable goods and sent oil prices firming on Tuesday by stoking hopes a more robust economy will consume more fuel and energy going forward.
But ongoing supply concerns chipped away the commodity's gains at times.
The Conference Board reported earlier that its consumer confidence index jumped to 94.5 this month from 89.0 in September, boosted by a more favorable assessment of the current job market and business conditions.
Economists had expected the index to tick down to 87.0 this month, and the report left many investors concluding that while demand for goods and services in the U.S. remains cautious, consumers still remain upbeat over the U.S. economy and will ramp up spending soon.
The numbers offset lackluster data on durable goods.
The U.S. Commerce Department reported earlier that total durable goods orders, which include transportation items, decreased by 1.3% last month, disappointing expectations for a gain of 0.5%.
Orders for durable goods in August were revised to a decline of 18.3% from a previously reported drop of 18.4%.
Durable goods are typically products designed to last at three years and include trains, planes and automobiles.
On Monday, U.S. financial institution Goldman Sachs cut its oil price forecast for WTI in the first quarter of next year by $15 to $75 a barrel.
The bank expects Brent prices to average $85 a barrel in the first three months of 2015, down from a previous estimate of $100.
Goldman analysts expect WTI to fall as low as $70 a barrel and Brent to $80 in the second quarter of 2015, when it expects oversupply to be most pronounced.
OPEC countries have hinted recently they may leave output quotes unchanged and have stressed the need to adapt to lower prices.
OPEC will hold its next meeting on Nov. 27.
Prices have fallen by over 20% in the last three months.