Oil prices higher on Iran tensions
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in March, rose 23 cents to 64.91 dollars per barrel in electronic deals.
In London, the price of Brent North Sea crude for March delivery increased 24 cents to 63.12 dollars per barrel.
Crude futures "were modestly higher... as it corrected some of yesterday's dip on continued concerns about Iran", analysts at the Sucden brokerage said.
New York prices are more than three dollars below their level on Monday, when the benchmark contract closed at 68.35 dollars.
Traders have chosen to focus on growing U.S. energy inventories in the past few days, rather than the looming crisis over Iran's alleged nuclear program.
U.S. crude stocks were roughly 10 percent higher than they were a year ago, according to the U.S. Department of Energy weekly report published on Wednesday.
Crude stocks rose 1.9 million barrels in the week ended January 27 to total 321 million barrels, the DoE said, sharply outstripping U.S. analysts' expectations of a 383,000-barrel build.
Meanwhile, Sucden analysts warned that "any more concerns about Iran or Nigeria could easily send the market higher again". Africa's biggest oil exporter has been hit recently by disruptions to supplies.
The IAEA's 35-nation board of governors was expected to vote Friday to refer Iran to the Security Council after three years of investigation into the country's nuclear program, which the United States charges hides secret atomic weapons work.
Top Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani has sent a letter to IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei warning that Iran would go ahead with industrial-level uranium enrichment, if sent before the Security Council.
There are also fears that Iran could withhold its oil exports as a retaliatory measure.
The oil-rich nation is the second-biggest producer within the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, exporting 2.7 million barrels of oil per day.