Oil futures rose modestly early Tuesday, stabilizing after back-to-back declines as investors await U.S. supply data.
West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery rose 34 cents, or 0.5%, to $74.49 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. September Brent crude, the global benchmark, was up 32 cents, or 0.4%, at $78.82 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.
Back on Nymex, August gasoline rose 0.8% to $2.654 a gallon, while August heating oil gained 0.8% to $2.584 a gallon. August natural gas rose 2.7% to $2.579 per million British thermal units.
Crude was stabilizing after a Monday pullback that was blamed on weak data on Chinese economic growth and the restart of production at Libyan oil fields that had been shut down due to protests.
Crude prices remain down sharply in the year to date but have bounced in July, buoyed in part by expectations for a tightening market in the second half amplified by additional supply cuts by Saudi Arabia and Russia.
Source : Marketwatch
