Investing.com – Crude oil prices settled higher on Tuesday after a report showed Opec output fell in August but gains were capped as investors braced for U.S. crude inventory due data expected to show a large build in stockpiles.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange crude futures for October delivery rose 16 cents to settle at $48.23 a barrel, while on London's Intercontinental Exchange, Brent rose 39 cents to trade at $54.23 a barrel.
In its monthly oil market report the Opec said production in August fell by 79,000 barrels a day (bpd) to 32.76 million as falling production from Venezuela, Iraq, the UAE and Saudi Arabia offset rising output from Nigeria.
Global oil demand growth is forecast to increase by 1.35m bpd to 98.12m bpd, representing an uptick of 70,000 bpd from the previous report.
Opec’s secretary-general Mohammad Barkindo said “It is clear the rebalancing process is under way,” and expressed optimism that growing demand in the second of the half of year would continue to dent excess supplies.
The reported also highlighted a dip in non-Opec output, after several refineries along the Gulf Coast shut down as Hurricane Harvey tore through the U.S. oil heartland of Texas in August.
The dip in refinery activity has lowered demand for oil, fuelling concerns that crude stockpiles will continue to build ahead of fresh U.S. crude inventory data.
The American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday and the Energy Information Administration on Wednesday are expected to report an increase in U.S. crude inventories for the second straight week.