Oil prices hovered near three-month lows on Tuesday, March 14 with investors waiting for key reports and data that may shed light on a supply overhang in the global market.
Brent crude futures LCOc1 gained 3 cents to $51.32 a barrel, having settled down 2 cents on Monday after dipping as low as $50.85.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) CLc1 was down 7 cents at $48.33 a barrel, as of 0716 GMT. The contract ended down 9 cents in the previous session after touching its lowest since the end of November at $47.90. Both benchmarks had slightly fluctuated during Asian hours.
Prices fell sharply last week as investors worried that swelling U.S. crude supplies would hinder Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’s (OPEC) efforts to restrict output and reduce a global glut.
Prices rose after the OPEC and other major oil producers, including Russia, had agreed in November to rein in production by almost 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) in the first half of 2017.
The International Energy Agency releases its closely watched monthly oil market report on Wednesday.
Data from the industry group the American Petroleum Institute on U.S. crude and product stockpiles is also due later on Tuesday.
U.S. shale oil production in April was set for its biggest monthly increase since October as output in the Permian Basin, America’s fastest growing shale oil region, was expected to hit another record high, government data showed on Monday.
