Investing.com – Crude futures settled at a five-week high on Tuesday, ahead of the release of a fresh batch of U.S. crude inventories data, expected to show a decline in crude stockpiles for a sixth-straight week amid growing expectations that OPEC will extend production cuts later this week.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange crude futures for June delivery gained 34 cents to settle at $51.47 a barrel, while on London's Intercontinental Exchange, Brent added 32 cents to trade at $54.19 a barrel.
Oil prices continued to add to recent gains, as Saudi Arabia seeks to garner support for its proposal to extend the production cuts for a period of nine-months until March 2018, ahead of the Organization of the Petroleum and Exporting Countries meeting later this week.
Kuwaiti Oil Minister Issam Almarzooq said some countries are not in favour of a nine-month extension, but there’s a preliminary agreement on a six-month deal that will be reviewed in November.
OPEC is expected to decide at talks on Thursday, whether to extend the current deal to cut production.
Meanwhile, In the U.S., the White House included in its budget proposal, a plan to sell half of the nation's 688 million-barrel oil stockpile from 2018 to 2027, as it aims to raise $16.5 billion to reduce the budget deficit.
Investors’ concerns over the impact of the budget proposal was minimal, as the budget is only a proposal and may not take effect in its current form.
U.S. crude stockpiles remained in focus, as investors awaited the release of inventories data from The American Petroleum Institute at 16:30 EDT, and the U.S. Energy Information Administration at 10:30 EDT on Wednesday, expected to show U.S. crude stockpiles fell for a sixth-straight week.
U.S. crude oil inventories were expected to fall by around 2.7 million barrels for the week ended May 19.