Oil prices were largely stable on Tuesday, as traders awaited signs of a hoped-for summer demand boost to prop up prices even as strong supply threatens to blunt gains.

Benchmark Brent crudefutures were down 16 cents, or 0.2%, to $84.09 per barrel at 0805 GMT after climbing in the previous session. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures, which also rose on Monday, were down 15 cents, or 0.2%, to $80.18 a barrel.

Both benchmarks gained around 2% on Monday, closing at their highest levels since April.

"The oil market shifted its focus back to fundamentals, which have been soft for some time," said BoFA commodity and derivatives strategist Francisco Blanch in a note, adding that global crude oil inventories and refined product storage in the United States and Singapore, among other places, was higher.

Meanwhile, global oil demand growth slowed to 890,000 barrels per day year on year in the first quarter, and data suggests consumption growth likely slowed further in the second quarter, he said in the note.

But U.S. crudeinventories are expected to have fallen by 2.3 million barrels in the week to June 14, according to analysts polled by Reuters.

Source : Reuters