Crude-oil futures rose slightly in Asian trading Wednesday, on the back of expectations that U.S. crude inventories would decline in Energy Information Administration data due to be issued later in the day. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in August traded at $76.17 a barrel at 0653 GMT, up $0.23 in the Globex electronic session. August Brent crude on London's ICE Futures exchange rose $0.03 to $75.47 a barrel.

U.S. crude inventories are expected to fall by 900,000 barrels in the week to June 25, according to analysts surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires. Gasoline inventories are expected to fall by 400,000 barrels, while distillates are expected to rise by 900,000 barrels. The American Petroleum Institute, an industry group, said Tuesday that crude stocks fell by more than 3.4 million barrels in the week to June 25, while gasoline stocks fell by more than 908,000 barrels.

Nymex reformulated gasoline blendstock for July--the benchmark gasoline contract--fell 106 points to $2.0614 a gallon, while July heating oil traded at $2.0035, 178 points lower. ICE gasoil for July changed hands at $653.00 a metric ton, up $2.25 from Tuesday's settlement.