On Wednesday, Brent crude futures were steady above $116 a barrel as a sentiment lift from an unexpected fall in U.S. crude inventories was dampened by uncertainty over Greece’s ability to resolve its debt problems.

The American Petroleum Institute (API) reported a surprise drawdown of 4.5 million barrels in the week to February 3 and defied a consensus forecast for a 2.4 million barrels increase.

“The market was expecting a big build with many refineries expected to go into turnaround in February and March, so the numbers are a boost for prices,” said Tony Nunan, a risk manager with Mitsubishi Corp in Tokyo.

Front-month Brent edged down 12 cents to $116.11 a barrel by 0301 GMT to snap seven straight days of gains.

“There is little doubt that should Greece come to an agreement with private debt holders and agree to tough austerity measures this would be viewed favorably in risk asset markets,” said Ben Le Brun, market analyst with OptionXpress in Sydney.