Investing.com - Crude oil rose in Asia on Tuesday ahead of industry estimates of US crude and refined product inventories that will be closely watched for signs of the impact of a ramp up min domestic crude production.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange crude futures for March delivery rose 0.32% to $59.48 a barrel, while on London's Intercontinental Exchange, Brent gained 0.21% to $62.86 a barrel.
The American Petroleum Institute reports estimates for crude and refined product stocks last week to be followed by official data from the Energy Information Administration on Wednesday. Initial analyst figures expect a 2.6 million barrels build in crude, a 1.625 million barrels fall in distillates and a 1.367 million barrels increase in gasoline stocks.
Overnight, crude oil prices settled higher as an upbeat OPEC monthly report underlying continued global oil demand growth lifted investor sentiment.
OPEC said it expects global oil demand growth to rise by 1.59 million barrels a day (bpd), up 60,000 bpd from December’s forecast. The uptick in the oil cartel’s outlook for global oil demand growth reflected a positive economic outlook.
Offsetting that was an upward revision to non-OPEC output expected to rise to a total of 59.26 million bpd this year, 320,000 bpd higher than its last forecast.
The US makes up more than half the non-OPEC upward revision, reaffirming recent data from the EIA, which showed US crude oil output continued to rise above 10 million bpd last week.
Data from Baker Hughes showing oil rigs operating in the US rose to a more than one year high also pointed to a possible ramp up in domestic oil production as US shale producers take advantage of higher crude oil prices.
Yet some OPEC members remained adamant that rising shale production wouldn’t prove to be a “huge distorter” of the market.