Investing.com - Oil prices were slightly lower in European trading on Wednesday, holding near the weakest level in around two weeks as investors looked ahead to weekly data from the U.S. on stockpiles of crude and refined products.
The U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude May contract dipped 2 cents to $52.40 a barrel by 3:25AM ET (07:25GMT).
The U.S. benchmark lost 26 cents on Tuesday after hitting its lowest since April 7 at $52.10, amid renewed concerns about a global supply glut.
Elsewhere, Brent oil for June delivery on the ICE Futures Exchange in London shed 3 cents to $54.86 a barrel, after falling 85 cents in the prior session.
After markets closed Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute said that U.S. oil inventories fell by 840,000 barrels in the week ended April 14.
The API report also showed a surprise gain of 1.4 million barrels in gasoline stocks, while distillate stocks declined 1.8 million barrels.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration will release its official weekly oil supplies report at 10:30AM ET (14:30GMT) Wednesday. If the draw is confirmed, it would be the second straight weekly decline.
Oil traders continued to focus on the ongoing rebound in U.S. shale production, which could derail efforts by other major producers to rebalance global oil supply and demand remained in focus.
U.S. drillers last week added rigs for the 13th week in a row, data from energy services company Baker Hughes showed, extending a 10-month drilling recovery.
That brought the total count to 683, the most since September 2015, underlining concern that an ongoing rebound in U.S. shale production could derail efforts by other major producers to rebalance global oil supply and demand.
Market participants, however, remained optimistic that OPEC would extend its current deal with non-OPEC producers to cut output beyond June in an effort to rebalance the market.
In November last year, OPEC and other producers, including Russia agreed to cut output by about 1.8 million barrels per day between January and June.
A joint committee of ministers from OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers will meet in late April to present its recommendation on the fate of the pact. A final decision on whether or not to extend the deal beyond June will be taken by the oil cartel on May 25.
Elsewhere on Nymex, gasoline futures for May firmed at $1.702 a gallon, while May heating oil held steady at $1.622 a gallon.
Natural gas futures for May delivery tacked on 0.6 cents to $3.151 per million British thermal units.