Oil rises on U.S. inventory drop, Russian gas cuts | Reuters

Oil rises on U.S. inventory drop, Russian gas cuts | Reuters

Oil rose by $1 a barrel on Wednesday as a report of lower inventories in the United States and cuts in Russian gas flows to Europe offset concern about weaker demand and a looming U.S. interest rate hike.

Industry group the American Petroleum Institute said on Tuesday crude stocks fell by 4 million barrels, four times the forecast decline. The Energy Information Administration's official figures are out at 1430 GMT.

"Coupled with the Fed decision on interest rates, today is sure to be a heavy U.S.-centric session," said Stephen Brennock of oil broker PVM.

Brent crude rose 91 cents, or 0.9%, to $105.31 a barrel at 0811 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gained $1.16, or 1.2%, to $96.14.

"It looks the more vulnerable from a technical perspective, and a large gain by official U.S. crude inventories tonight could spark more selling," said Singapore-based analyst Jeffrey Halley of brokerage OANDA, referring to WTI.