Investing.com – Crude futures settled higher on Tuesday, as investors looked ahead to fresh U.S. crude inventory data expected to show draw in crude stockpiles, offsetting concerns about an uptick in output from Opec members.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange crude futures for July delivery rose 38 cents to settle at $46.46 a barrel, while on London's Intercontinental Exchange, Brent gained 81 cents to trade at $48.67 a barrel.
Crude futures started the day on the front foot, as Saudi Arabia pledged to reduce exports to customers in July, in an effort to help curb the glut in supply.
Sentiment, turned negative, however, later during the session, following Opec’s monthly report, showing that output from the group rose by 336,000 barrels a day in May to 32.14m barrels per day (bdp).
An uptick in production from both Nigeria and Libya, was singled out as the reason the market was rebalancing at a “slower pace”, as both nations are exempt from supply cuts.
Investor disappointment from the Opec report eased later during the session, as investor focus shifted to weekly inventory data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) expected to show that crude stockpiles fell by more than 2m barrels for the week ended June 2.
Despite expectations of a drop in U.S. crude stockpiles, fears of rising U.S. shale production are expected to continue to weigh on Opec and its allies’ efforts to rebalance supply and demand in the market.
The EIA released its monthly report on drilling activity Monday, showing that oil production from seven major U.S. shale plays is projected to rise by 127,000 barrels a day to 5.475 million barrels a day in July from June.