Oil holds gain with stockpile data and Iran sanctions in focus

Oil held a gain as a report showed lower US crude stockpiles, and traders weighed the possible fallout from fresh sanctions on Iran. Brent was steady above $88 a barrel after climbing 1.6% on Tuesday, while West Texas Intermediate was near $83.The API reported nationwide crude inventories fell by 3.2-million barrels last week, according to people familiar with the data.