SINGAPORE (AP) — Oil prices hovered above $77 a barrel Wednesday in Asia after a report showed U.S. crude supplies unexpectedly rose last week, suggesting demand remains weak.

Benchmark crude for September delivery was unchanged at $77.50 a barrel at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Crude inventories jumped 3.1 million barrels last week, the American Petroleum Institute said late Tuesday. Analysts had expected a drop of 2.3 million barrels, according to a survey by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.

Supplies of gasoline and distillates also rose, the API said.

The Energy Department's Energy Information Administration is scheduled to report its supply data later Wednesday.

The contract lost $1.48 to settle at $77.50 on Tuesday on disappointing data about U.S. consumer confidence and manufacturing.

Oil has bounced within the $70s for most of this year, with doubts about the strength of the U.S. economic recovery helping to undermine any move above $80.

"With the price near $80, there would have to be some extreme bullishness to witness a break to the upside," Sander Capital said in a report. "The price of oil should stay in the $75 range for now."

In other Nymex trading in August contracts, heating oil fell 0.19 cent to $1.9975 a gallon, gasoline dropped 0.72 cent to $2.0560 a gallon and natural gas was steady at $4.680 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Brent crude was up 11 cents to $76.24 a barrel on the ICE futures exchange.