Oil rises after losses

Oil pared losses and rose after an industry report showed U.S. crude inventories fell for a fourth week. Brent rose above $81 a barrel after losing nearly 5% in the previous three sessions, while U.S. crude was near $77. The industry-funded American Petroleum Institute said inventories fell by 3.86 million barrels, with the decline also seen in central Cushing, Oklahoma. If confirmed by official figures later Wednesday, it would be the fourth decline since September. Oil’s recent weakness comes amid concerns about weakening demand in China, the world’s largest crude importer. But futures have been holding higher since the start of the year as OPEC+ continues production cuts and a Bloomberg report on flows from Russia showed exports fell to their lowest level since December. A series of wildfires in Canada’s oil patch had threatened to cut nearly 10% of the region’s oil output. The pullback so far has eliminated the foam that formed during the rally in June and the first week of July, and crude is expected to bottom out soon, said Vandana Hari, founder of Vanda Insights in Singapore.