Oil prices little changed as dollar gains, U.S. drawdown seen

By Keith Wallis
SINGAPORE, May 24 (Reuters) - Oil prices were little changed
in thin early Asian trade on Tuesday as a firmer dollar weighed
on oil markets while a likely drawdown in U.S. crude and
gasoline stockpiles pointed to stronger demand ahead of the U.S.
summer driving season.
U.S. crude futures CLc1 edged down 4 cents to $48.04 a
barrel by 0016 GMT, having settled down 33 cents in the previous
session.
Brent futures LCOc1 dipped 4 cents to $48.31 after closing
down 37 cents in the previous session, with both contracts
finishing with modest losses for a fourth straight session
U.S. commercial crude oil stocks likely fell by around 2.5
million barrels to 538.8 million in the week ended May 20, a
preliminary Reuters analysts' poll taken ahead of weekly
industry and official inventory data showed on Monday.

Gasoline stocks likely fell 1.3 million barrels last week,
while distillate inventories, which include heating oil and
diesel fuel, likely decreased by a million barrels, the poll
showed.
The American Petroleum Institute (API) is due to release its
inventory data later on Tuesday, while the U.S. Department of
Energy's Energy Information Administration (EIA) is due on
Wednesday.
The dollar index .DXY rose marginally higher against a
basket of currencies on Tuesday, as investors continued to
factor in an increased chance of a near-term U.S. interest rate
rise.
A stronger greenback makes dollar-priced commodities more
expensive for holders of other currencies.
Still, U.S. data economic overnight was disappointing, with
the preliminary Markit manufacturing PMI in May falling to 50.5,
the lowest level this year.
"Markit PMI data continued to point to a difficult period
for manufacturing as Q2 unfolds," ANZ said in a market report on
Tuesday.
Crude exports from Iraq's southern oil fields have fallen by
more than 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) to around 3.15 million
barrels so far in May, according to an industry source and
loading data. That followed the previous month's near-record of
3.36 million bpd.
Libya's crude production has risen above 300,000 barrels per
day (bpd) after the reopening of the Marsa al Hariga export
terminal in the east of the country late last week, a spokesman
for the Tripoli-based National Oil Corporation (NOC) said on
Monday.