Oil prices were holding steady early Wednesday ahead of the release of U.S. oil inventory data.

West Texas Intermediate for the April contract was trading at $50.60 Wednesday morning, up 8 cents from Tuesday's close. Brent, the global benchmark, was trading at $60.33, down 69 cents from Tuesday's close.

Prices closed higher on Tuesday after Saudi Arabia raised the price of its light oil for April delivery, by $1.40 per barrel in Asia and $1 per barrel in the United States. Speaking in Germany Wednesday, Saudi Arabian oil minister Ali al-Naimi said he expects oil prices to stabilize.

Prices remain down about 40 percent from June 2014 highs, however, as markets stay weighted toward the supply side.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration on Wednesday in its petroleum status report for the week ending Feb. 20, the most recent data available, said U.S. crude oil inventories increased by 8.4 million barrels from the previous week. At 434.1 million barrels, it is at the highest level for this time of year in at least 80 years, despite falling rig counts and spending cuts in exploration and production.

U.S. crude oil imports averaged 7.3 million barrels per day last week, up by 174,000 barrels per day from the previous week. Over the last four weeks, crude oil imports averaged about 7.3 million barrels per day, 0.7 percent below the same four-week period last year.

Militants of unknown affiliation have reportedly seized the Libyan oil fields of Mabruk and Bahi, as rival governments conducted airstrikes on one another. The increased violence and ongoing disputes between rival governments have stifled production in the country and threaten long-term output. In OPEC's monthly report in February, it said member state Libya was producing around 343,000 bpd as of January, a 27 percent decline from December. U.S. Ambassador to Libya Deborah K. Jones wrote in the Libya Herald the country may go broke if oil continues to get caught in the crossfire.