Investing.com - Oil remained under pressure Wednesday as bloated global inventories continued to weigh.
The market received some support from the rift in Qatar's ties with its Middle East neighbors and a fall in U.S. crude stocks.
U.S. crude was off 32 cents, or 0.66%, at $47.87 at 08:30 ET. Brent shed 42 cents, or 0.84%, to $49.70.
A Saudi-led alliance on Monday broke off ties with Qatar, alleging its neighbor backed terrorism .
Port restrictions imposed on Qatari-flagged vessels could cause some disruption to oil shipments.
The American Petroleum Institute Tuesday reported a fall of 4.6 million barrels in U.S. crude stockpiles in the latest week.
The Energy Information Administration is due to release its official inventories report later in the session.
The EIA is forecast to report a drop in U.S. crude stocks of 3.46 million barrels.
The EIA Tuesday also said U.S. oil output could hit a record 10 million barrels a day next year, up from 9.3 million currently.
That could weigh on efforts by major producers to curb production.
OPEC and non-OPEC producers have extended output cuts of 1.8 million barrels a day for another nine months.