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Brent rose 1.2 percent to $68.31 per barrel in Asian trade on Wednesday morning, continuing a month-long rally that has been supported by a weaker U.S. dollar and disruption to crude exports from Libya.
A report from industry group American Petroleum Institute suggested that U.S. crude inventories fell by 1.5 million barrels last week. The U.S. Energy Information Administration will issue official stockpiles data at 1430 GMT on Wednesday.
In the Gulf, however, corporate news flow has been slow. Shares in Dubai builder Arabtec dropped 2.5 percent on Tuesday ahead of a board meeting which was due to elect a new chairman following the departure of Khadem Abdulla al-Qubaisi, who had not been nominated for renewed board membership.
On Wednesday morning, the company said its board had elected prominent Abu Dhabi businessman Mohamed Thani Murshed Ghannam al-Rumaithi as its new chairman. Another potentially positive factor for Arabtec shares is that Wednesday is the last day when the shares entitle investors to a 5 percent bonus share issue.
Dubai's index , which slipped 0.4 percent to 4,069 points on Monday, is nearing strong technical support around 4,000 points, where it peaked repeatedly between December and February.
Saudi Arabia's index also closed just above technical support at its March peak of 9,745 points on Tuesday. With its heavily weighted petrochemicals sector, the bourse stands to gain more than other Gulf markets from oil's rebound.
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