The Associated Press
The price of oil ticked higher to near $103 a barrel on Wednesday as traders anticipated a decline in U.S. supplies of crude.
Benchmark U.S. oil for July delivery was up 17 cents to $102.83 a barrel at 0725 GMT in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 19 cents to close Tuesday at $102.66.
Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils, gained 7 cents to $108.89 a barrel on the ICE exchange in London.
A report due later Wednesday on U.S. supplies for the week ended May 30 is expected to show a decline of 2 million barrels in crude oil stocks and an increase of 2 million barrels in gasoline stocks, according to a survey of analysts by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.
In other energy futures trading on Nymex:
— Wholesale gasoline was steady at $2.949 a gallon.
— Natural gas rose 0.1 cent to $4.63 per 1,000 cubic feet.
— Heating oil rose 0.2 cent to $2.868 a gallon.
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