LONDON—Oil futures rose slightly Thursday, but were down from a rally earlier in the session.
At early afternoon in London, the front-month October Brent contract on London's ICE futures exchange was 0.2% higher at $76.61 a barrel.
The front-month September contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange was 0.3% higher at $75.64 a barrel.
The ICE's gasoil contract for September delivery was 1.3% higher at $647.75 a metric ton.
The market consolidated following news of rising U.S. crude stockpiles. Inventory statistics from the U.S. Department of Energy on Wednesday afternoon showed "total U.S. oil inventories rose to 1.13 billion barrels [for the week ended Aug. 13], the highest level since weekly records began in 1990," said Eugen Weinberg, head of commodity research at Commerzbank.
But crude-oil stockpiles fell 818,000 barrels, which included a 687,000-barrel draw at Cushing, Okla., the delivery point for the main U.S. oil future.
Crude-oil prices were flat in the overnight session, but crept higher in the morning as European equities rose and the euro strengthened against the dollar, reversing earlier losses, following upbeat European economic news.
The Bundesbank revised up Germany's 2010 growth forecast to 3% from 1.9%, and U.K. retail sales rose 1.1%, beating forecasts for a 0.6% rise.
However, the market started to slip back again as traders awaited the release of U.S. weekly jobless claims.
