Oil up

London/Singapore

Oil prices edged up on Wednesday, lifted by declining U.S. crude inventories, although markets were still restrained by general oversupply.

Market focus was turning to the release of official U.S. Energy Information Administration data later on Wednesday for a further update on inventories. Brent crude futures were at $51.06 per barrel at 0651 GMT, up 23 cents, or 0.45 percent, from their last close.

Traders said that reports of a dip in Libyan output to between 130,000 and 150,000 barrels per day (bpd), down from 280,000 bpd, had supported Brent.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $47.71 a barrel, up 16 cents, or 0.3 percent. U.S. 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. That compared with analyst expectations for a decrease of 3.1 million barrels.