World oil prices edged up for the first time this week on Wednesday as it crossed the $87 mark in early Asian trade.
Light sweet crude for March delivery was seen trading at $87.54 a barrel at 12.30 noon Singapore time while Brent crude was at $100.33 a barrel ICE Futures exchange in London.
Analysts attributed sudden decline US crude stockpiles, for the first time over a month, for the turnaround as that may increase oil demand.
Futures advanced as much as 0.7 percent after the American Petroleum Institute said inventories fell 558,000 barrels to 346 million barrels last week.
In other Nymex trading in February contracts, heating oil rose 0.3 cent to $2.73 a gallon and gasoline gained 0.2 cent to $2.50 a gallon. Natural gas futures for March delivery were up 3.0 cents at $4.07 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Investors and traders are also looking for US Energy Department's Energy Information Administration reports scheduled for later today.
On Tuesday, China's interest rate hike announcement pushed down oil prices as traders foresaw an impact on Chinese demand, but the fall was countered by a weaker dollar and political uncertainty in Egypt.
Light sweet crude for March delivery, closed at $86.94 while Brent North Sea crude for March delivery closed at $99.92 a barrel.
