Crude oil futures rise with U.S. supply data, OPEC in focus

Investing.com - Crude oil futures edged higher on Tuesday, as market participants looked ahead to fresh weekly information on U.S. stockpiles of crude and refined products to gauge the strength of demand in the world’s largest oil consumer. Oil traders are also awaiting a critical OPEC meeting in Vienna later in the week.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude oil for July delivery tacked on 52 cents, or 0.86%, to trade at $60.72 a barrel during European morning hours after hitting an intraday peak of $60.84, the most since May 21.

A day earlier, Nymex oil prices dipped 10 cents, or 0.17%, to close at $60.20 as a broadly stronger U.S. dollar weighed.

The American Petroleum Institute will release its inventories report later in the day, while Wednesday’s government report could show crude stockpiles fell by 2.0 million barrels in the week ended May 29.

According to industry research group Baker Hughes (NYSE:BHI), the number of rigs drilling for oil in the U.S. fell by 13 last week to 646. The drop marks the 25th straight week of declines and the biggest fall in four weeks.

Market players have been paying close attention to the shrinking rig count in recent months for signs it will eventually reduce the glut of crude flowing into the market.

Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil for July delivery inched up 57 cents, or 0.87%, to trade at $65.45 a barrel. London-traded Brent prices declined 68 cents, or 1.04%, on Monday to close at $64.88.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Counties is largely expected to keep production levels steady above 30 million barrels per day when it meets on Friday, despite ongoing concerns over ample global supplies.

The spread between the Brent and the WTI crude contracts stood at $4.73 a barrel, compared to $4.68 by close of trade on Monday.

In the currency market, the dollar rose to fresh 12-and-a-half year highs against the yen, amid speculation the Federal Reserve was on track to raise interest rates in September. USD/JPY hit highs of 125.06, the most since November 2002 before pulling back to 124.61.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was at 97.36, not far from the five-week highs of 97.88 hit last week.

The greenback has been well-supported in recent sessions amid indications the U.S. economy is gaining momentum after a slowdown in the first quarter, supporting the case for higher interest rates later this year.

Later in the day, the U.S. was to release data on factory orders for April. Market players are also looking ahead to the nonfarm payrolls report due later this week.

Meanwhile, Greece’s creditors said late Monday that there must be “intensive work” in the coming days to reach an agreement on economic reforms needed to unlock further financial aid.

The debt-strapped nation is due to make a €305 million payment to the International Monetary Fund on Friday but warned last month that it will be unable to make the repayment if a cash-for-reforms deal is not reached by then.