Investing.com - Crude futures carried Monday's losses into Tuesday on expectations for Libyan oil exports to resume flowing out of the country after the government and rebels ended a standoff that had closed several facilities and ports.
In the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate crude oil for delivery in August traded at $103.05 a barrel during U.S. trading, down 0.47%. New York-traded oil futures hit a session low of $103.02 a barrel and a high of $104.13 a barrel.
The August contract settled down 0.51% at $103.53 a barrel on Monday.
Nymex oil futures were likely to find support at $101.89 a barrel, the low from June 9, and resistance at $106.09 a barrel, the high from July 1.
Fears that military conflicts in the Middle East will disrupt supplies continued to wane on Tuesday and allow oil prices to soften.
Libya recently struck a deal with rebels occupying oil ports under terms that would have insurgents give up control over terminals that have been closed for a year.
The deal should add 500,000 barrels per day of crude back into the global energy market, and the news sent futures falling on expectations for global supply to rise.
Meanwhile, expectations for the Iraqi insurgency to remain to the north of the country's oilfields also allowed prices to dip, though last week's upbeat U.S. jobs report cushioned losses.
Investors also avoided the commodity ahead of the release of the Federal Reserve's minutes from its June policy meeting on Wednesday.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil futures for August delivery were down 1.26% and trading at US$108.86 a barrel, while the spread between the Brent and U.S. crude contracts stood at US$5.81 a barrel.