NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Crude-oil futures turned higher Wednesday, rising for a 10th straight session as a weaker dollar boosted commodities prices, offsetting government petroleum data that pushed oil lower earlier.
Weekly data released by the Energy Information Administration showed U.S. crude inventories rose last week as imports increased. The data also showed a big buildup in gasoline inventories as demand remained weak. Distillate stockpiles, which include heating oil, fell as cold weather increased demand.
Crude for February delivery was last up 0.8% at $82.44 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It fell to $80.85 a barrel earlier.
In currencies trading, the dollar erased its earlier gains, falling lower against the euro and the British pound while remaining higher against the Japanese yen. The dollar index (DXY 77.50, -0.12, -0.16%) was last down 0.2% at 77.495.
"Crude is following the dollar," said Tariq Zahir, managing member at Tyche Capital Advisors. However, "the energy complex is witnessing bearish fundamentals staring them in the face."
EIA data
The Energy Information Administration reported U.S. crude inventories rose 1.3 million barrels in the week ended Jan. 1, and gasoline inventories gained 3.7 million barrels. Distillate stockpiles fell 300,000 barrels.
Analysts surveyed by Platts expect a decline of 1.6 million barrels in crude inventories.
They also predict an increase of 1.2 million barrels in gasoline stockpiles and a decrease of 1.8 million barrels in distillate fuels, which include heating oil and diesel.
Analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires, meanwhile, have predicted an increase of 200,000 barrels in crude inventories.
The EIA data also showed net crude imports rose 4.1% to 8.323 million barrels a day.
Refiners reduced their production last week, operating at 79.9% of their operable capacity, down from the previous week's 80.3%. Inventories at Cushing, Okla., the delivery point for Nymex crude futures, rose 1.3 million barrels to 35.7 million.
Total petroleum inventories, including crude, gasoline and other petroleum products, fell 2.3 million barrels to 1,049 million barrels.
Late Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute reported a 2.3-million-barrel drop in oil inventories. It also reported big buildups in petroleum products. The EIA and the API use different criteria to measure stockpiles.
In other energy trading, February gasoline lost 1% to $2.1031 a gallon, and February heating oil lost 1.1% to $2.1701 a gallon.
February natural gas rose 4.7% to $5.901 per million British thermal units.
Analysts at AccuWeather.com said the eastern half of the U.S. is facing its coldest winter since 1982. Natural gas, one of the major fuels used in heating, is trading near its one-year high.
The United States Oil Fund (USO 40.88, +0.47, +1.16%) slid 0.6%, and the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG 10.82, +0.50, +4.85%) rose 3.5%.
In economic news Wednesday, private-sector firms in the U.S. eliminated 84,000 jobs in December, according to the ADP employment report released Wednesday. It was the fewest jobs lost since March 2008.
The service sectors of the U.S. economy rebounded in December, the Institute for Supply Management reported Wednesday. The ISM nonmanufacturing index rose to 50.1% from 48.7% in November. Despite the improvement, the increase was below expectations.
