he U.S. oil benchmark finished modestly higher Wednesday after an upbeat demand estimate from a global energy watchdog, but only after struggling to hold those gains after U.S. government data showed a smaller-than-expected drop in historically high crude inventories.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in September rose 22 cents, or 0.5%, to settle at $43.30 a barrel after flipping between gains and losses earlier in the session. On Tuesday, the U.S. benchmark plunged in the wake of China’s yuan devaluation, closing at its lowest level since March 2009.

The global benchmark, Brent crude, rose 48 cents, or 1%, to end at $49.66 a barrel on London’s ICE futures exchange. Oil prices fell back from session highs after the Energy Information Administration said U.S. crude-oil inventories fell by around 1.7 million barrels to 453.6 million barrels last week. Analysts surveyed by oil-data firm Platts had forecast a drop of 1.9 million barrels. Crude-oil inventories remain at levels not seen for this time of the year for at least eight decades, the EIA noted. Meanwhile, total gasoline inventories fell by 1.3 million barrels versus expectations for a drop of 1.6 million, and distillate-fuel stocks rose by 3 million barrels, far above forecasts for an increase of 600,000.

Oil found support in earlier trade from an upbeat demand forecast from the International Energy Agency. The Paris-based agency said in its closely watched monthly report that demand for oil is increasing at its fastest pace in five years, boosted by a price drop below $50 a barrel. The IEA said global oil demand would grow by 1.6 million barrels a day this year, an upward revision of 200,000 barrels a day from its previous forecast. But Vikas Dwivedi, analyst at Macquarie, found little comfort for bulls in the IEA report’s strong demand assumptions. Even with stronger demand, the global oil market, which has been plagued by a supply glut, is unlikely to balance until the fourth quarter of 2016, Dwivedi said. ”We believe it will be difficult for Brent and WTI crude prices to sustain any significant, fundamentally driven rallies for the balance of this year and potentially through” the first half of next year, Dwivedi said, in a note.