(Reuters) – Oil prices rose slightly on Wednesday after U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s hawkish message reaffirming the central bank’s fight to bring inflation down to its 2% target.

Brent futures rose 52 cents, or 0.69%, to $76.42 a barrel by 1413 GMT and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was up 71 cents, or 1%, at $71.90.

The Fed’s fight to lower inflation “has a long way to go” Powell said on Wednesday in testimony prepared for delivery to the House Financial Services Committee.

Analysts said they did not expect Powell’s testimony to divert significantly from what he said in the press conference after last week’s Fed policy meeting, reiterating that the central bank’s decisions will be data-dependent.

Returning the U.S. economy to sustainable growth could bolster oil demand.

Oil prices also drew support from a possible drawdown in U.S. crude stocks, with a Reuters poll of five analysts estimating on average that stockpiles fell by about 400,000 barrels in the week to June 16.

Official U.S. oil inventory data from the American Petroleum Institute will be released later on Wednesday and the Energy Information Administration’s report will follow on Thursday. Both reports have been delayed a day by the Juneteenth public holiday on Monday. [EIA/S] [API/S]

Price gains were capped, however, after British inflation defied expectations that it would slow, data showed on Wednesday. The rate held at 8.7% in May, boosting expectations that the Bank of England will raise interest rates by a hefty half a percentage point on Thursday.

“Countries are struggling to rein in inflation … and that’s going to dampen growth and threaten recessions across the globe,” said Craig Erlam, senior markets analyst at OANDA.