Investing.com - Oil prices edged lower during European morning hours on Wednesday, after data overnight showed another increase in U.S. crude supplies.
The U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude April contract shed 14 cents, or around 0.3%, to $53.87 a barrel by 4:00AM ET (09:00GMT). The U.S. benchmark fell to $53.18 on Tuesday, a level not seen since February 17.
Elsewhere, Brent oil for May delivery on the ICE Futures Exchange in London dipped 5 cents to $56.46 a barrel after reaching a more than one-week low of $55.62 in the prior session.
After markets closed Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute said that U.S. oil inventories rose by 2.5 million barrels in the week ended February 24.
The API report also showed a gain of 1.84 million barrels in gasoline stocks, while distillate stocks dropped a sharp 3.73 million barrels.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration will release its official weekly oil supplies report at 10:30AM ET (15:30GMT) Wednesday.
Oil remained supported amid ongoing signs of compliance with a global pact to cut production. A Reuters survey found on Tuesday that OPEC has cut its oil output for a second month in February. The survey pointed to a compliance rate of around 94%.
Oil prices have been trading in a narrow $5 range around the mid-$50s over the past two months as sentiment in oil markets has been torn between hopes that oversupply may be curbed by output cuts announced by major global producers and expectations of a rebound in U.S. shale production.
Elsewhere on Nymex, gasoline futures for April shed 0.9 cents, or around 0.6%, to $1.707 a gallon, while March heating oil dipped 0.1 cents to $1.638 a gallon.
Natural gas futures for April delivery slumped 2.6 cents, or almost 1%, to $2.748 per million British thermal units.