By Barani Krishnan
Investing.com - Oil prices rebounded Tuesday as market bulls looked forward to data likely to show another draw in US crude stockpiles.
But any disappointment over the numbers due from industry body API, known in full as the American Petroleum Institute, could send prices lower in after-hours trade.
API will issue at 4:30 PM ET (20:30 GMT) a snapshot of U.S. crude, gasoline and distillate inventories for the week ended July 9. The figures are a precursor to the official weekly inventory data due on Wednesday from the EIA, or U.S. Energy Information Administration. More than the API’s numbers, disappointment over what the EIA releases could have a major impact on the market.
According to a consensus of analysts tracked by Investing.com, U.S. crude crude stockpiles likely fell by 4.36 million barrels last week, versus the previous week’s drop of 6.87 million.
Gasoline inventories potentially fell by 1.79 million barrels versus the draw of 6.1 million in the prior week, consensus shows.
And stockpiles of distillates, made up of diesel and heating oil, likely grew by 877,000 barrels last week after expanding by 1.62 million the week before.
In Tuesday’s session, New York-traded West Texas Intermediate crude, the benchmark for U.S. oil, settled up $1.15, or 1.6%, at $75.25 a barrel.
London-traded Brent, the global benchmark for oil, rose $1.32, or 1.8%, to reach $76.48 by 2:52 PM ET (18:52 GMT).