Investing.com - Oil prices extended gains from the prior session on Tuesday, after France launched another set of air strikes on the Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa in Syria, underlining concerns over a disruption to supplies from the region.
On the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil for January delivery tacked on 27 cents, or 0.61%, to trade at $44.83 a barrel during European morning hours.
On Monday, Brent fell to $43.15, the weakest level since August 26, before turning higher after French air strikes in Syria were seen to threaten global oil supply.
Elsewhere, crude oil for delivery in December on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 3 cents, or 0.08%, to trade at $41.77 a barrel. Nymex prices fell to $40.06 on Monday, the lowest since August 27, before rallying $1, or 2.45%, on a flurry of technical buying.
Gains were expected to remain limited as mostly bearish outlooks for supply and demand and for the global economy remained on investors' minds.
Market players looked ahead to fresh weekly information on U.S. stockpiles of crude and refined products to gauge the strength of demand in the world’s largest oil consumer.
The American Petroleum Institute will release its inventories report later in the day, while Wednesday’s government report could show crude stockpiles rose by 1.6 million barrels in the week ended November 13.
U.S. oil supplies in the U.S. rose for the seventh consecutive week last week, remaining near levels not seen for this time of year in at least the last 80 years.
According to industry research group Baker Hughes (N:BHI), the number of rigs drilling for oil in the U.S. increased by 2 last week to 574, the first weekly rise in almost three months.
The oil market has been on the defensive in recent months amid uncertainty about how quickly the global glut of crude is set to shrink.
Worries over a stronger U.S. dollar, prospects of higher interest rates in the U.S. next month and concerns over weakening demand from China also weighed.