Investing.com – Crude settled higher on Tuesday, snapping a six-day losing streak, as investors eyed a report from the Energy Information Administration expected to show a drawdown in U.S. crude inventories.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange crude futures for June delivery added 33 cents to settle at $49.56 a barrel, while on London's Intercontinental Exchange, Brent gained 58 cents to trade at $52.71 a barrel.
A report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration at 10:30 EDT Wednesday, is expected to show drawdown in U.S. crude stockpiles.
For the week ended April 19, it is widely expected that U.S. crude stockpiles fell 1.6 million barrels.
The expected drawndown in U.S. crude inventories came against the backdrop of a wave of concerns that OPEC may not seek to extend its deal to cut supply beyond June, despite bullish comments concerning a possible deal extension from Saudi oil chief Khalid al-Falih.
“Consensus is building [concerning a possible deal extension], but it is not done yet,” Khalid al-Falih said last week.
OPEC will decide at talks on May 25 whether to extend production cuts beyond June.
Despite the record compliance with the supply-cut agreement in March, inventories in industrial countries remained above the five-year average, which is a key metric OPEC monitors.
In November last year, OPEC and other producers, including Russia agreed to cut output by about 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd). The deal to cut supply came into effect in January this year for a period of six-months until June.