Oil prices rose in Asian trading on Wednesday amid increasing tensions in the Middle East, though the gains were limited by declining demand.

 By 06:15 GMT, Brent crude futures were up 17 cents, or 0.16%, to $76.60 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was up 17 cents, or 0.23%, to $73.37. Chinese trade data supported the pessimistic view on demand, showing that daily crude oil imports in July fell to their lowest level since September 2022.

The broader price recovery came after earlier trading saw declines following U.S. data showing an unexpected increase in crude oil and gasoline inventories.

Market sources, citing API (American Petroleum Institute) figures, reported that U.S. crude oil, gasoline, and distillate inventories rose last week. Gasoline inventories increased by 3.313 million barrels, against analysts’ expectations of a 1-million-barrel drop, while distillate inventories rose by 1.217 million barrels, a larger-than-expected increase.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) is scheduled to release its weekly inventory data at 14:30 GMT on Wednesday.