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Ammon News - Oil prices edged up on Wednesday as developments in the Middle East took centre stage against cautious demand expectations and ahead of a government meeting on China's fiscal policy.

Brent crude futures rose 45 cents, or 0.6%, to $77.63 a barrel by 0703 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures rose 33 cents to $73.90 a barrel.

Prices had plunged more than 4% in the previous session on a possible Hezbollah-Israel ceasefire, but markets remain wary of a potential Israeli attack on Iran's oil infrastructure.

OANDA's senior market analyst, Kelvin Wong, expects a sideways trading pattern for the oil market in the short term, with WTI confined within a range of $73.15 to $78.30 a barrel, pending announcements on China's new fiscal stimulus measures and developments in the Middle East.

On the demand front, data showed U.S. crude oil stocks rose by nearly 11 million barrels last week, much more than analysts polled by Reuters had expected, according to market sources citing American Petroleum Institute figures on Tuesday. However, fuel stockpiles fell.

Weak demand continued to underpin the fundamental outlook. The U.S. EIA on Tuesday downgraded its 2024 forecast for global oil demand growth by 20,000 barrels per day (bpd), to 103.1 million bpd, because of weaker industrial production and manufacturing growth in the U.S. and China.

Reuters