Oil prices rose on Wednesday, lifted by declining US crude inventories, although markets were still restrained by general oversupply.
The market focus was turning to the release of official Energy Information Administration data due later on Wednesday for a further update on inventories, reports Reuters.
Brent crude futures LCOc1 were at $51.07 per barrel at 0620 GMT, up 27 cents or 0.5 per cent from their last close.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were at $47.75 a barrel, up 20 cents, or 0.4 per cent.
US crude inventories fell by 9.2 million barrels in the week to Aug. 11 to 469.2 million, industry group the American Petroleum Institute said on Tuesday.
Gasoline stocks climbed by 301,000 barrels, compared with analyst expectations for a 1.1 million barrel decline.
The OPEC together with non-OPEC producers like Russia has pledged to restrict output by 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) between January this year and March 2018.
