Investing.com - Crude oil prices held onto overnight gain in Asia on Tuesday with U.S. industry estimates on stockpiles ahead.
The American Petroleum Institute will release its estimates of U.S. crude and refined product stocks at the end of last week on late Tuesday to be followed by more closely-watched data from the U.S. Department of Energy on Wednesday.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, WTI crude for November delivery traded up slightly by 0.03% to $46.28 a barrel.
Overnight, crude futures rose considerably on Monday amid news that Russia is willing to meet with a host of major oil producers to discuss a plan to combat crashing energy prices worldwide, before paring some gains late in the session as investors locked into profits from a recent surge.
Energy traders also digested reports over the weekend that Saudi Arabia has cut prices for November crude oil exported to Asia and the U.S. in a last-ditched effort to regain market share from its top competitors before the front month of crude future contracts expire later this month.
On the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), Brent crude for November delivery wavered between $47.84 and $49.86 a barrel before closing at $49.36, up $1.22 or 2.53% on the session. At one point on Monday, both brent and WTI futures for November delivery neared their highest levels in two weeks. The spread between the international and U.S. benchmark of crude stood at $3.05, above Friday's level of $2.62 at the close of trading.
Crude futures posted steady gains on Monday following news that Russia has expressed a desire to meet with both OPEC and non-OPEC members to craft a strategy aimed at stabilizing global oil prices. In September, Russian oil production surged to a post-Soviet Union record high near 10.75 million barrels per day, even as crude price hovered near six and a half year lows. In recent months, though, Russia has shown an unwillingness to slash crude output even if it could help bolster global oil prices.
One of the meetings, according to Russia energy minister Alexander Novak, will take place with high-level energy officials from Saudi Arabia at the end of October. Russia, which is among the top three oil producers in the world, has seen its economy struggle amid a prolonged downturn in crude prices. Last December, the ruble plunged to an all-time low of 72.45 against the dollar, losing approximately one-third of its value in a span of three weeks. While the ruble has rebounded somewhat this year, it stood at 64.86 on Monday, only up roughly 10% since December's swoon.
News of the potential Russian-Saudi meetings came one day after Bloomberg reported that Saudi Arabian oil company Aramco slashed its prices on oil sales to Asia and the U.S. in attempts to boost demand in both regions. Aramco, according to Bloomberg, has increased its discount for Medium grade crude to Asia to a discount of $3.20 a barrel, far above the $1.30 discount it offered a month earlier. Aramco has also increased discounts for light, medium and heavy grades of Crude exports to the U.S. by 0.30 cents a barrel.