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Oil prices rose slightly in Asia trade on Wednesday following the release of an industry report showing US inventories rose less than expected last week.

After two days of losses on the crude oil markets, increased buying interest today followed data released by the American Petroleum Institute (API), which said that US crude stocks had risen by only 800,000 barrels. The figures, more bullish than anticipated, appeared to indicate a higher-than expected demand for oil products in the US.

In the API report, crude oil inventories rose to 338.1 million barrels last week, whilst Gasoline supplies rose by 942,000 barrels and distillate fuel stockpiles dropped by 345,000 barrels.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) light sweet crude for delivery in March, rose by 40 cents to 41.98 per barrel by 09:25 GMT today. Meanwhile, Brent Crude on the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) jumped 72 cents to $44.45 per barrel.

Yesterday, light sweet crude plunged by $4.15 to $41.58 in what appeared to be the expectation of further growth in crude inventories.

Crude oil prices also tumbled on expectations that economic stimulus packages will help arrest the global slowdown and raise demand for crude.

The US House of Representatives is expected to vote Wednesday on an $825 billion stimulus bill which backers say could create up to 4 million jobs. The bill, which includes approximately $550 billion in spending and $275 billion in tax cuts, could be signed by President Barack Obama by mid-February.

The U.S. Energy Department's Energy Information Administration is expected to release its data at 10:30 a.m. in Washington today.

The report is expected to show that oil stocks rose by between 2.8 million and 3.4 million barrels last week, according to market analysts.