08:38 AM EDT, 08/27/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Oil edged higher early on Wednesday after the United States placed hefty secondary tariffs on India to discourage its imports of Russian oil even as a report showed a lighter than expected drop in U.S. oil inventories last week.

West Texas Intermediate for October delivery was last seen up US$0.24 to US$64.49 per barrel, while October Brent crude was up US$0.20 to US$67.42.

The Trump Administration is following through on threats to impose 50% tariffs on most U.S. imports from India to discourage its imports of Russian oil, with the levies taking effect just after after midnight on Wednesday, doubling its previous tariff on the country. The Guardian reported India's government has refused to end imports from Russia.

India's defiance of the U.S. tariffs comes as global supply is rising, with OPEC+ set to add 548,000 barrels per day of new supply on Sept.1, the final tranche in its return of 2.2-million bpd of production cuts to market.

"Crude futures steadied following Tuesday's slump after Trump imposed 50% tariffs on most US imports from India, making good on a threat to punish one of the world's largest economies over its purchases of discounted Russian oil. However, these concerns continue to be offset by the risk of a growing supply glut amid rising OPEC+ production," Saxo Bank noted.

The American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday said its weekly survey of U.S oil inventories showed stocks fell by 0.97-million barrels last week, while the consensus estimate among analysts polled by Oilprice.com expected a 1.7-million barrel drawdown. The Energy Information Administration will release official inventory data later on Wednesday morning.