Oil traded little changed ahead of official figures expected to show US crude inventories rose and as the dollar gained against the Euro, reducing the investment appeal of dollar denominated commodities.

An Energy Department report today will probably show US crude stockpiles increased 600,000 barrels in contrast to the 1.52 million barrel decline reported yesterday by the industry-funded American Petroleum Institute. Crude had risen as much as 0.6 percent after the API data, which has moved in the same direction as the government figures 76 percent of the time over the past four years.

“The last few weeks, the API report was not in agreement with the DOE report, and there is some caution in the market on it,” said Victor Shum, a senior principal at consultant Purvin & Gertz Inc. in Singapore.

Crude oil for September delivery traded at $71.28 a barrel, down 14 cents, on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 1:21 p.m. in Singapore. Earlier, it rose 45 cents to $71.87 a barrel. Yesterday, oil dropped 16 cents, or 0.2 percent, to settle at $71.42 a barrel.

The dollar rose to $1.4395 per euro at 1:17 p.m. in Singapore from $1.4408 in New York yesterday. The US currency declined to $1.4445 on Aug. 3, the lowest since Dec. 18.