Investing.com - Oil prices were lower in North American trade on Tuesday, reversing its overnight gains, as market players looked ahead to fresh weekly information on U.S. stockpiles of crude and refined products.
The American Petroleum Institute will release its inventories report later in the day, while Wednesday’s government report could show crude stockpiles rose by 1.5 million barrels in the week ended April 29.
Crude oil for June delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange shed 69 cents, or 1.54%, to trade at $44.09 a barrel by 13:39GMT, or 9:39AM ET. Prices rose by as much as 1.2% earlier to hit an intraday peak of $45.34.
A day earlier, Nymex prices lost $1.14, or 2.48%, after data showed rising oil stockpiles in the U.S. According to private forecaster Genscape, supply levels at the key U.S. delivery hub in Cushing, Oklahoma rose by 871,000 barrels last week.
Nymex oil prices are up nearly 50% since falling to 13-year lows at $26.05 in February, as a decline in U.S. shale production boosted sentiment. However, analysts warned that market conditions remained weak due to an ongoing glut.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil for July delivery dipped 45 cents, or 0.98%, to trade at $45.38 a barrel. On Monday, London-traded Brent slumped $1.54 as increased production from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries dampened sentiment.
A monthly survey of OPEC producers by news agency Reuters suggested April output from the cartel was up 170,000 barrels a day month-on-month at 32.64 million barrels a day, as production increases led by Iran and Iraq more than offset a strike in Kuwait and other outages.
Brent futures prices are up by roughly 45% since briefly dropping below $30 a barrel in mid-February, despite the collapse of talks at a Doha summit in April aimed at achieving a production freeze among OPEC and Non-OPEC producers. OPEC meets on June 2 in Vienna and may discuss the freeze initiative again.
Meanwhile, Brent's premium to the WTI crude contract stood at $1.29 a barrel, compared to a gap of $1.05 by close of trade on Monday.