VINACHEM

Oil prices were little changed on Thursday after rising to a near one-week high in the previous session, as an industry report showing a buildup in U.S. crude stockpiles weighed on sentiment.

Brent futures were up 20 cents at $76.24 a barrel by 0600 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude dropped 30 cents to $71.95.

The March contract expires on Thursday, while the more active April contract rose 21 cents to $72.31.

U.S. crude stocks rose by 3.34 million barrels last week, market sources said, citing American Petroleum Institute figures on Wednesday.

Official oil inventory data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) is due on Thursday. Both reports were delayed a day on account of a U.S. holiday on Monday.

Analysts have forecast that about 2.2 million barrels of crude were added to U.S. stockpiles in the week ended February 14. If the forecasts are correct, energy firms would have added crude into storage for four weeks in a row for the first time since April.

Import tariffs announced by the Trump administration could also dent oil prices by raising the cost of consumer goods, analysts said, weakening the global economy and reducing fuel demand. Concerns about European and Chinese demand were also helping keep prices in check.

"It is natural to be concerned about the global economic outlook as Donald Trump takes a sledgehammer smashing away at the existing global 'free-trade structure' with signals of 25% tariffs on car imports to the U.S.," said Bjarne Schieldrop, chief analyst commodities at SEB.

Separately, Russia said Caspian Pipeline Consortium oil flows, a major route for crude exports from Kazakhstan, were reduced by 30%-40% on Tuesday after a Ukraine drone attack on a pumping station.

A 30% cut would equate to the loss of 380,000 barrels per day of market supply, Reuters calculations show.

However, other factors and potential boosts to oil supply added to concerns about prices.

In the Middle East, Israel and Hamas will begin indirect negotiations on a second stage of the Gaza ceasefire deal, which could weigh on oil prices by reducing the risk of further supply disruptions. Potential restarts of oil flows from Iraq's Kurdistan region were offsetting supply risks, analysts at ING said.

"There's talk that these flows could resume soon, after being offline since early 2023. A resumption could bring 300,000 barrels of supply per day onto the market," the analysts said in a note on Thursday.