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By Bloomberg

Oil advanced from a three-month low as investors weighed falling nationwide stockpiles in the U.S. against swelling supplies at the country’s biggest storage hub.

Futures rose as much as 1.3 percent in New York. While inventories at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for U.S. benchmark oil, rose for a third week through July 10, total stockpiles declined more than forecast as refiners used the most crude in weekly data since 1989. The full impact of higher Iranian exports won’t be felt until 2016 as the nuclear deal is implemented, banks including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. predict.

Oil’s rebound from a six-year low has faltered amid speculation a global glut will persist as U.S. drillers return rigs to fields and Iran seeks to regain market share. While total U.S. crude inventories declined last week, supplies remain almost 100 million barrels above the five-year average for this time of the year, according to the EIA.

West Texas Intermediate for August delivery gained as much as 66 cents to $52.07 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $51.93 at 1:19 p.m. Sydney time. The contract slid $1.63 to $51.41 on Wednesday, the lowest close since April 9. The volume of all futures traded was about 6 percent above the 100-day average. Prices are 2.5 percent lower this year.

Brent for August settlement, which expires Thursday, was 63 cents higher at $57.68 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. It fell $1.46 to $57.05 on Wednesday. The European benchmark crude was at a premium of $5.77 to WTI. The more-active September contract rose 52 cents to $57.64.