US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 7 cents to US$44.72 a barrel. The decrease, if confirmed by US government data on Wednesday, will mark the eighth consecutive weekly contraction.
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Oil prices steadied near $47 a barrel on Tuesday as concerns over a glut of crude and refined fuel outweighed an expected cut in USA shale production and a probable further drawdown in US crude inventories.
Brent crude futures rose 2 cents to $47.63 a barrel by 0924 GMT, while US crude futures eased by 4 cents to $45.91 a barrel.
The race among oil suppliers to meet the rise in demand for imports from China’s independent refineries is heating up, with Iran supplying a 2-million-barrel cargo via trader Trafigura. Brent crude futures rose US$2.22, or 4.8 percent, to close at US$48.47 per barrel.
Further weighing on supply, U.S. commercial crude oil inventories likely fell by 2.2 million barrels from 521.8 million barrels in the week ended July 15, a preliminary Reuters poll of analysts showed on Monday.
Trading sentiment dampened at the futures trade after oil prices extended their decline in Asia today as the global glut returned to focus, while worries about the effects of Turkey’s coup on shipments also eased, analysts said.
If the EIA confirms a drawdown, it will be the ninth straight week that United States crude stockpiles have fallen. “There is nothing in terms of short-term risk (to oil supply)”, he said.
WTI crude oil deals have been finalized for 45 dollars and 70 cents per barrel, crude oil price was hiked by one percent after the news of rebellion in Turkey by Turkish Army. Energy Aspects expects China’s overall crude imports to average around 7.4 million a day in 2016, higher than the 6.7 million barrels a day logged past year. Between July 11 and July 18, USA crude oil rose by 0.92%.
At 3 pm in Singapore, ICE September Brent crude was at $47.54/b, while NYMEX August crude was at $45.80/b, both slightly down from Friday’s settle.
Also weighing on oil was the USA dollar’s rally to a four-month high, making greenback-denominated oil less affordable for holders of the euro and other currencies.
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“Turkey is not a big oil producer nor consumer, and the oil market appears to be displaying fatigue in response to repeated counts of geopolitical “events” in the last few weeks, and thus only seems to react more strongly to events that matter on the fundamental side”, said Vyanne Lai, an economist at National Australia Bank.
