West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures ended higher on Tuesday while Brent crude traded slightly lower as investors awaited weekly data to substantiate the anticipated rise in crude oil inventories, according to Bloomberg MarketWatch.
October West Texas Intermediate crude rose by 14 cents, or 0.3%, to settle at $43.44 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on the contract’s expiration day. The November WTI contract which became the front month, added 19 cents, or 0.4%, to settle at $44.05 a barrel.
November Brent crude lost 7 cents, or less than 0.2%, to finish at $45.88 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures Exchange.
S&P Global Platts surveyed analysts who expect a rise of 2.8 million barrels in crude oil stockpiles for the week ending September 16. The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s weekly petroleum inventory report is due Wednesday. The American Petroleum Institute report will be released late Tuesday.
Meanwhile, natural gas futures rallied back above $3 per million British thermal units to their highest settlement since January 2015 as forecasts for warmer weather raised demand expectations for the fuel. October natural gas jumped by 11.3 cents, or 3.9%, to $3.047 per million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
