Crude Oil Supplies Weigh On Market Ahead Of API Estimates

Crude supplies weighed on the market on Tuesday in mixed prices ahead of industry data on U.S. inventories expected to set the tone.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude futures for August delivery added 0.72% at $44.55 a barrel, while on London's Intercontinental Exchange, Brent fell 0.11% to $46.97 a barrel.

The American Petroleum Institute (API) is expected to report industry estimates off crude stocks later on Tuesday, followed Wednesday by more closely watched figures from the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Overnight, crude futures settled higher on Monday, but sentiment on oil remained negative as fears grew that rising output from the United States, Nigeria and Libya would continue to weigh on OPEC and its allies' efforts to rein in supply.

Oil prices shrugged off negative sentiment to settle higher, despite a recent string of comments from analysts warning that growing non-OPEC supply would continue to limit OPEC and its allies' pact to curb production. "The simple truth is that OPEC and Russia have to contend with the fact is that there is output growth elsewhere diluting their efforts at reducing supply," BNP Paribas said in a note.

In May, OPEC and non-OPEC members agreed to extend production cuts for a period of nine months until March, but allowed both Nigeria and Libya to remain exempt from the cuts. Both Nigeria and Libya have ramped up production in recent months, adding to the global glut in supply, which has pressured prices over the past three years.

Ahead of the meeting between OPEC ministers and Russia on July 24, investors are expected to monitor comments from oil ministers for clues about current sentiment on further production cuts and introducing production caps for Nigeria and Libya.

Libya said on Monday it was ready for talks, but added that its political, economic and humanitarian situation should be taken into account in talks on caps, while Nigeria's oil minister was unable to attend the OPEC meeting because of a previous commitment, the Kuwait Oil Minister Essam al-Marzouq told reporters.