Oil prices recovered some ground in early Asian trade on Wednesday as investors weighed concerns about major producers cutting output and attacks on shipping in the Red Sea against weak expectations of a U.S. interest rate cut.
Brent crude futures rose 12 cents, or 0.15 percent, to $82.46 a barrel by 0100 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 9 cents, or 0.12 percent, to $77.13.
Brent futures fell 1.5 percent and West Texas Intermediate fell 1.4 percent on Tuesday.
Washington again vetoed a UN Security Council resolution on Tuesday on the war between Israel and Hamas, blocking a demand for an immediate ceasefire on humanitarian grounds. Instead, the US is pushing the Security Council to adopt a resolution linking a ceasefire to the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas.
Attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels on ships in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait have continued to raise concerns about shipping flows through the vital waterway. At least four ships have been hit by drone and missile attacks since Friday.
Meanwhile, Russia said on Tuesday it plans to meet its OPEC+ quota in February despite a drop in oil refining. It had pledged to cut output by 500,000 barrels per day as part of the OPEC+ cuts.
Russia's energy minister said on Tuesday that refinery production in Russia had fallen by 7 percent since the start of the year, after facilities were damaged by Ukrainian drone attacks.
Concerns that the Federal Reserve's interest rate cut would take longer than expected weighed on oil demand expectations.
Last week's US inflation data has dampened expectations of an imminent start to the US monetary easing cycle, with economists polled by Reuters now expecting a cut in borrowing costs in June.
A preliminary Reuters poll on Tuesday showed U.S. crude stocks rose last week, while distillate and gasoline inventories fell.
Analysts polled by Reuters estimated that crude inventories rose by about 4.3 million barrels in the week to Feb. 16.
