Jul 19, 2022 02:55AM ET
By: AnalysisWatch
Oil rose slightly on Tuesday, paring earlier losses, after rising more than $5 a barrel in the previous session amid concerns about tight supply.
As of 0645 GMT, Brent crude futures for September delivery rose 17 cents to $106.51 a barrel. On Monday, the contract gained 5.1 percent, the most since April 12.
WTI crude futures for August delivery rose 36 cents to $102.96 a barrel. On Monday, the contract rose 5.1 percent, the highest percentage gain since May 11.
The August contract for WTI expires Wednesday, and the more actively traded September futures contract was at $99.74 a barrel, up 32 cents.
Oil prices have been wavering between supply concerns as Western sanctions on Russian crude and fuel supplies over the conflict in Ukraine have disrupted trade flows to refiners and end users, and growing worries that central banks' efforts to tame rising inflation could trigger a recession that could reduce future fuel demand.
"The fundamental imbalance between supply and demand is as strong as it has ever been," Jeffrey Haley, senior market analyst at OANDA, said in a note.
"Oil prices may have peaked, but it certainly doesn't look like they're going to fall materially from here unless we get a huge surprise from OPEC+."
Last week, U.S. President Joe Biden visited top oil exporter Saudi Arabia in hopes of reaching an agreement to increase oil production to tame fuel prices.
However, officials from Saudi Arabia, the de facto leader of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), gave no clear assurances that a production increase was assured.
On Tuesday, oil prices were supported by a weaker U.S. dollar, which held at about a one-week low, making greenback-dominated oil slightly cheaper for buyers holding other currencies.
The forecast for oil inventories in the United States, the world's biggest oil consumer, was that crude and distillate stocks may have increased last week, while gasoline inventories probably declined, according to a preliminary Reuters poll.