FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) -- Oil futures rose above $71 a barrel on Wednesday, as traders awaited a statement from the Federal Reserve and data that's expected to show a decline in U.S. crude inventories. Crude oil for January delivery gained 59 cents, or 0.8%, to $71.28 a barrel in electronic trading on Globex. Earlier, it rose to an intraday high of $71.59 a barrel. The American Petroleum Institute reported late Tuesday that distillate stocks declined by 2.6 million barrels during the week ended Friday. Crude stocks increased by 924,000 barrels, and gasoline stocks rose by 2.07 million barrels, the API also said after the close of regular trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. "The market interpreted the API figures as bullish due to the strong distillate draw that was reinforced by plummeting temperatures in the U.S. Northeast, the country's key heating oil market," wrote analysts at Vienna-based JBC Energy GmbH. "However, it is questionable how bullish it really is when refinery utilization collapses by nearly 3 percentage points to a record low of 78.6%, while global floating storage alone would be (theoretically) sufficient to meet the entire U.S. heating oil demand this winter," they said in a note to clients. The refinery utilization rate fell to 78.6% last week from 81.4%, the API reported. Inventory data, Fed decision ahead The Energy Information Administration will release its more closely watched inventory report on Wednesday morning. Analysts polled by Platts expect a decline of 2 million barrels in crude-oil inventories and an increase of 1.5 million barrels in gasoline inventories. They also project a drop of 750,000 barrels in distillate stocks. U.S. stock futures rose on Wednesday, along with oil and other commodity prices, ahead of a statement from the Federal Reserve that's expected to signal no major changes in monetary policy. Read more on stocks. The Fed will announce its interest-rate decision at 2:15 p.m. Eastern time. The central bank is expected to keep its short-term interest rate target on hold at 0% to 0.25% and continue to signal that it will not raise rates for a long time. Oil futures ended up 1.7% on Tuesday, breaking a nine-session losing streak, as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries lifted its global demand forecast. The oil cartel revised higher its forecast for oil demand next year by 70,000 barrels a day, to 85.13 million barrels, citing demand from developing countries such as China and India. However, OPEC said the pace of recovery in developed countries, especially in the U.S., remained at risk and could dampen demand. The cartel will hold its next meeting in Angola on Dec. 22.

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