Crude oil futures rose Wednesday amid expectations that the weekly U.S. petroleum stocks data released later in the day will show a drop in fuel inventories from production outages caused by Hurricane Katrina. Light, sweet crude for October delivery gained 23 cents to $63.34 a barrel in heavy Asian trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange late morning in Singapore. On Tuesday, the contract closed at $63.11 a barrel after shedding 23 cents in a volatile session. Gasoline rose half a cent to $1.8975 a gallon, while heating oil inched up almost 1 cent to $1.8490. Analysts predict the U.S. Department of Energy's petroleum supply report later Wednesday will report a 5 million to 7 million barrel drop in crude oil stocks because of shipping delays into the Gulf of Mexico. Gasoline inventory is expected to fall by 3 million to 6 million barrels because of the continued refinery outage, and a drop in demand due to high prices, while heating oil stockpiles could drop as much as 2 million barrels due to the cutback in refining production. "U.S. petroleum stock data would be one critical factor to determine near-term crude price direction," said Ken Hasegawa of Tokyo-based brokerage firm Himawari CX. But some analysts said the damage could be worse than estimated. "The market is closely watching out for the report as a way of seeing the progress that oil companies and refiners are making in getting their assets back online," said Mark Pervan, a commodities analyst with Daiwa Securities in Melbourne, Australia. "We won't see much selling before the report comes out, as the sentiment is that there could be a larger drop than expected," Pervan said. Oil producers in the region are scrambling to find their way around damage to key pipelines and an onshore storage facility that threaten to bottle up their output indefinitely. Owners of giant deepwater platforms say they are ready to start pumping oil but cannot get their crude ashore because of the obstacles. "The ability to return production from our deepwater fields in the Eastern Gulf is dependent on the offshore transportation systems and onshore infrastructure," said Ayana McIntosh-Lee, a spokeswoman for BP PLC. "Right now, we are considering several options to return to production which include barging, tankering, and bypassing primarily third-party operated pipelines." Chevron Corp.'s Empire Terminal on the Mississippi River, which suffered severe flooding, an oil spill and a power outage, is nowhere near coming up with a recovery estimate, spokesman Mickey Driver said. Nymex crude has dropped from its intraday high of $70.85, reached Aug. 30 after Katrina hit, but remains more than 40 percent higher than year-ago levels. European leaders have called for relief from high oil prices, as signs of economic angst resulting from expensive oil escalated in the region. British Finance Minister Gordon Brown urged the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to increase production while French President Jacques Chirac asked oil companies to further cut prices and boost investment in renewable energy. "The first action we must take is to tackle the cause of the problem, ensuring concerted global action is taken to bring down world oil prices and stabilize the market for the long term," Brown said in a speech to the Trades Union Congress in Brighton. Protesters in Britain prepared for demonstrations at refineries over high fuel taxes. But fears that the protests would block refineries sparked panic buying, drying out some stations completely. Consumer groups pressed for boycotts, and new figures showed energy costs are fueling inflation. The International Air Transport Association, meanwhile, said airlines could lose $7.4 billion this year if oil prices maintained lofty trends. That's up from a May forecast of $6 billion, when Brent oil was about $47 a barrel. The new forecast uses an average Brent oil price of $57.