Crude oil futures ended higher for the first time in four sessions on Wednesday, although Wall Street pared gains after the Federal Reserve kept the benchmark interest rates unchanged and extended Treasury debt purchases. NYMEX natural gas futures settled lower defying worries about rising tropical activity in the Atlantic and weighed down by milder Northeast weather and concerns about record high inventories and sagging industrial demand.

The U. S. National Hurricane Center said Wednesday the Atlantic could get its first named storm of the season later today, but most computer models showed the system steering northwest, towards the U. S. East Coast and not into the Gulf of Mexico.

The EIA said that domestic crude stocks rose 2.5 million barrels last week to 352 million barrels, above the forecast for a
700,000 barrel rise in a Reuters poll.

The energy unit of Toronto Stock Exchange owner TMX Group Inc will start physical clearing of U. S. crude oil this week, adding to its Canadian oil trading platform, it said on Wednesday.

The forward curve of international benchmark U. S. crude futures could be distorted by rising storage levels at their delivery points and lack of transparency, the International Energy Agency said on Wednesday.

Crude oil prices seem to be running ahead of fundamentals as it rose last day despite bearish inventory reports. We expect energy complex to remain subdued during the day. We recommend selling crude oil on every rise.