Investing.com - Crude traded narrowly mixed in Asia on Wednesday ahead of industry figures on U.S. stockpiles.
U.S. crude rose 0.19%, at $47.16 a barrel. Brent eased 0.04% to $49.59 a barrel.
Overnight, oil reversed earlier losses in subdued trade due to the U.S. fourth of July holiday.
Many traders closed positions due to the holiday. Ahead, the American Petroluem Institute (API) releases its estimates of crude and refined product stocks ast the end of last week, followed on Thursdy with official data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA).
Crude inventories are seen down by 2.833 million barrels with distillates expected to gain 367,000 barrels and gasoline stocks fell 500,000 barrels.
Supporting crude are security risks following North Korea's repeated missile tests and the political crisis between Qatar and an alliance of Arab nations led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Oil has settled higher for eight sessions in a row as part of an extended recovery from multi-month lows.
Support has come from reports of a recent dip in U.S. output and a slowdown in U.S. drilling activity.
The latest weekly Baker Hughes data showed a fall in the U.S. oil rig count for the first time since the start of the year.
A supply glut has been eroding the impact of output cuts by major producers.
OPEC and non-OPEC producers agreed in May to extend output cuts of 1.8 million barrels a day through to March of next year.