Oil gains on weaker dollar, unexpected rise in US crude oil inventories

LONDON (Reuters) -Oil prices firmed on Wednesday supported by a weaker dollar, but an unexpected rise in U.S. crude oil inventories capped gains.

Brent crude futures were up 49 cents, or 1%, to $50.57 a barrel at 1440 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained 56 cents, or 1.2%, to $47.58 a barrel. Both contracts fell nearly $1 earlier in the session.

The American Petroleum Institute (API) reported on Tuesday that U.S. crude inventories rose by 2.7 million barrels last week, compared with analyst expectations for 3.2 million barrel draw.

“The API set the U.S. glut alarm bells ringing,” Stephen Brennock of oil brokerage PVM said.