By Laila Kearney
(Reuters) - Oil edged up on Wednesday amid an escalation in the Ukraine war and signs of growing Chinese crude imports, while rising U.S. crude stocks checked overall price gains.
Brent crude futures gained 9 cents, or 0.1%, to $73.40 a barrel by 0003 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 14 cents, or 0.2%, to $69.53 per barrel.
U.S. crude oil stocks were seen rising by 4.75 million barrels in the week ended Nov. 15, market sources said on Tuesday, citing American Petroleum Institute figures. Gasoline inventories, however, fell by 2.48 million barrels.
Distillate stocks also fell, shedding 688,000 barrels last week, the sources said. Official government data is due later on Wednesday.
The escalating war between major oil producer Russia and Ukraine appears to have supported prices.
On Tuesday, Ukraine used U.S. ATACMS missiles to strike Russian territory for the first time, Moscow said. Russian President Vladimir Putin lowered the bar for a possible nuclear attack.
"This marks a renewed build up in tensions in the Russia-Ukraine war and brings back into focus the risk of supply disruptions in the oil market," ANZ analysts said in a note to clients.
Signs that China, the world's largest crude importer, may have stepped up oil purchases this month after a period of weak imports boosted oil price sentiment.
Data from vessel tracker Kpler showed China's crude imports are on track to end November at or close to record highs, an analyst told Reuters.
Weak imports by China so far this year have pulled down oil prices, with Brent sinking 20% from its April peak of more than $92 a barrel.