West Texas Intermediate was little changed ahead of weekly oil stockpiles data from the US due later Wednesday. Brent stood near a 14-month low, pressured by increasing global supplies amid easing worries over conflict in Ukraine as Iraq and Libya boosted crude output.
Oil markets continue to look for direction this week in the wake of the latest global developments. The sentiment is still mixed apparently, with futures swinging between gains and losses in the early trade and before the closely-watched inventory report by the U.S. Energy Department's Energy Information Administration (EIA), probably showing a 1.4 million-barrel drop in nationwide crude oil stockpiles in the week ended August 15.
As of 03:04 a.m. ET
- WTI for delivery in September was up 0.70% at $95.18 a barrel in the New York Mercantile Exchange
- Brentl for September delivery was up 0.11% at $101.69 a barrel in the ICE Exchange in London
The already ample supplies from the world's top producers helped weigh on prices, with Brent holding near the lowest level in over a year. Further easing in the geopolitical tension in Eastern Europe and the Middle East is expected t weigh further on the benchmarks.
Despite the high tension in the Middle East, Russia's second-biggest oil producer Lukoil said on Tuesday it had shipped 1 million barrels of oil produced from southern Iraq's giant West Qurna-2 oilfield, its first shipment from the field.
Libya's total oil production had risen to 562 thousand barrels per day from 535 thousand at the weekend, a spokesman for National Oil Corp said.