Investing.com - Oil Wednesday struggled to recoup early losses as industry figures showed a rise in U.S. crude stocks.
U.S. crude was off 12 cents, or 0.27%, at $44.12 at 08:00 ET. Brent was off 1 cent. or 0.02% at $46.91.
The American Petroleum Institute Tuesday reported a rise of 851,000 barrels in U.S. crude stocks in the latest week
The Energy Information Administration is due to release official inventories later in the session.
The EIA is forecast to report a fall in U.S. crude stocks of 2.585 million barrels.
Supply concerns remain in place as higher U.S. output undermines the impact of production cuts by major producers.
Nigeria and Libya, which are exempt from the OPEC-led cuts, have also raised output.
OPEC and non-OPEC producers have agreed to reduce output by 1.8 million barrels a day through to March of next year.
The curbs in production have failed to make the desired inroads into high inventories.