NYMEX oil higher in Asia as partial API data shows crude stocks drop

Investing.com - Crude oil prices were up in early Asia on Wednesday after industry data on U.S. stocks showed a drop.

The American Petroleum Institute said that crude oil stocks in the U.S. fell 1.5 million barrels last week. Data on distillates and gasoline was not immeditaely available.

Energy traders await Wednesday's weekly inventory report from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) to receive a better indication on current U.S. supply levels.

Last week, the EIA reported that U.S. crude inventories rose by 1.9 million barrels to 490.9 million, the highest level in at least 80 years. Analysts have forecast a build of 1.6 million for the week.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, WTI crude for June delivery rose 0.33% to $60.77 a barrel.

Overnight, crude futures surged to their highest levels of 2015 on Tuesday, bolstered by a spate of geopolitical tensions in Northern Africa and the Middle East.

On the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), brent crude for June delivery also reached a high for the year at one point surging above $68 a barrel on Tuesday.

In Libya, officials were forced to shut down the Zueitina oil port near Benghazi after protesters blocked a pipeline to the export facility. The protests also forced several oilfields in Eastern Libya to close, officials from the state-run oil firm NOC told reporter on Tuesday. It came days after output was slashed at the Elephant oil field, another major Libyan field, adding to the nation's dwindling production.

In 2011, Libya had the largest oil reserves in Africa and one of the top 10 throughout the world. A year earlier Libya pumped roughly 1.6 million barrels a day, a figure that has reportedly declined to approximately 400,000 bpd amid the closures. Incensed with current working conditions, the disgruntled workers reportedly demanded higher pay and better treatment during the protests.

Elsewhere, Republicans leaders in the Senate appeared to be at a standstill on a resolution for an Iranian Nuclear Bill which was expected to come up for a vote later this week. While a GOP majority appears ready to reject measures offered by Sens. Tom Cotton and Marco Rubio, little progress was made on Tuesday.

Last month, Reuters reported that Iran has 30 million barrels of oil stored in offshore tankers ready for export, after the Persian Gulf nation agreed on the framework of a nuclear deal with Western powers.

In addition, Facts Global Energy, an energy consulting firm, has forecast that Iranian oil exports could reach a level of 1.7 million barrels per day within 12 months of a final deal, up from it current level of a million bpd. An outflow of Iranian could depress oil prices in a global market already saturated by a glut of supply.

On Tuesday, Saudi Arabian oil minister Ali Al-Naimi appeared unfazed about the potential of an outflow of Iranian crude re-entering global markets if longstanding economic sanctions are lifted by Western powers.

"I'm not worried about crude, nor will I try to predict what the price (will be). If I tried to predict, I would be somewhere else gambling," Al-Naimi told CNBC. "No one can set the price of oil, it's up to Allah."