BANGKOK (AP) — Oil hovered below $94 a barrel Wednesday ahead of a report expected to show another increase in U.S. crude stockpiles.
Benchmark U.S. crude for December delivery was up 42 cents at $93.78 a barrel at midafternoon Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract slid $1.25 to $93.37 on Tuesday, adding to a month-long slide.
Crude is down about 10 percent since closing at $104.10 on October 2.
U.S. crude stockpiles have increased in each of the past six weeks, mostly because of rising domestic production, and were more than 10 percent above their five-year average near the end of October.
Energy Information Administration figures for the week ending Nov. 1 due Wednesday are expected to show a further increase of 2.5 million barrels, according to a survey of analysts by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.
Brent crude, the international benchmark, was up 65 cents at $105.98 a barrel on the ICE exchange in London.
In other energy futures trading on Nymex:
— Wholesale gasoline added 3.4 cents to $2.55 a gallon.
— Heating oil rose 2 cents to $2.884 a gallon.
— Natural gas gained 1.3 cents to per $3.479 per 1,000 cubic feet.