Investing.com - Crude oil prices eased in Asia on Wednesday as an industry report on U.S. supplies showed a less than expected drop.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil for delivery in August traded at $105.29 a barrel, down 0.05%, after hitting an overnight session low of $104.79 a barrel and a high of $106.08 a barrel.
Brent Oil for August, the global benchmark, fell 0.1% to settle at $112.29 a barrel on Tuesday.
The American Petroleum Institute, an industry group, said late Tuesday that its own data for the same week showed a 875,000 barrel draw in crude stocks, industry sources said.
The group also said that gasoline supplies fell by 410,000 barrels and stocks of distillates rose by 4.4 million barrels.
A drop of 2 million barrels of crude was expected for the API data.
The Energy Information Administration is scheduled to release the data at 10:30 a.m. ET Wednesday. A drop of 2.229 million barrels of crude is expected.
Earlier, data in the U.S> set the tone, as the Institute for Supply Management reported earlier that its purchasing managers' index fell to 55.3 in June from 55.4 in May. Analysts had expected the manufacturing PMI to increase to 55.8 in June.
Any reading over 50 marks expansion, which suggests the U.S. economy continues to recover, though concerns that the U.S. is awash in crude while recovery still faces headwinds gave oil prices room to fall on Tuesday.
Separately, the Commerce Department said construction spending rose 0.1% in May, below an expected 0.5% increase.
Events in Iraq continue to be closely watched, but concerns of a supply disruption have eased.