After several days of declines, falling U.S. crude oil inventories caused oil prices to rebound on Wednesday, while expectations of a near ceasefire agreement in the Middle East prevented prices from continuing to rise.

American West Texas Intermediate crude for September rose 42 cents to $77.38 per barrel. Brent oil futures for September rose 46 cents to $81.47 per barrel at 00:20 GMT. According to market sources citing the American Petroleum Institute (API), a trade organization, U.S. inventories of crude oil, gasoline, and distillates fell last week. Benchmarks recovered accordingly. WTI has lost 7% in the last four sessions and Brent has lost almost 5% in the previous three sessions