Investing.com - West Texas Intermediate oil futures declined in volatile trade on Tuesday, as market players 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.
Crude oil for delivery in December on the New York Mercantile Exchange slumped 75 cents, or 1.79%, to trade at $40.99 a barrel during U.S. morning hours.
Nymex prices fell to $40.06 on Monday, the lowest since August 27, before rallying $1, or 2.45%, on a flurry of technical buying.
The American Petroleum Institute will release its inventories report later in the day, while Wednesday’s government report could show crude stockpiles rose by 1.6 million barrels in the week ended November 13.
U.S. oil supplies in the U.S. rose for the seventh consecutive week last week, remaining near levels not seen for this time of year in at least the last 80 years.
According to industry research group Baker Hughes (N:BHI), the number of rigs drilling for oil in the U.S. increased by 2 last week to 574, the first weekly rise in almost three months.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil for January delivery declined 79 cents, or 1.76%, to trade at $43.77 a barrel. On Monday, Brent fell to $43.15, the weakest level since August 26, before turning higher after French air strikes in Syria were seen to threaten global oil supply.
Prices rose by as much as 1.2% earlier to hit $45.10 after France launched another set of air strikes on the Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa in Syria, underlining concerns over a disruption to supplies from the region.
The oil market has been on the defensive in recent months amid uncertainty about how quickly the global glut of crude is set to shrink.
Worries over a stronger U.S. dollar, prospects of higher interest rates in the U.S. next month and concerns over weakening demand from China also weighed.