Official figures from the US Energy Information Administration are due at around 10:30 am ET. A build of 1 million barrels is forecast.
Industry group the American Petroleum Institute reported Wednesday that US oil inventories rose by 2.1 million barrels last week.
WTI crude oil futures were up 44 cents at 44.68 a barrel.
The EIA said this week that it expects OPEC to continue producing oil at a record pace, while US production will fall as company's struggle to cope with low crude oil prices.
