Oil futures settled lower on Tuesday, as traders awaited weekly data that is expected to reflect an increase in domestic crude supplies, according to Bloomberg MarketWatch.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, November West Texas Intermediate crude lost 12 cents, or 0.2%, to settle at $48.69 a barrel.
On the London ICE Futures Exchange, December Brent crude slipped 2 cents, or less than 0.1%, to end trading at $50.87 a barrel.
Traders awaited data from government and trade resources on weekly petroleum supplies.
Analysts polled by S&P Global Platts forecast a climb of 2 million barrels in crude stockpiles for the week ending September 30. They also expect to see a fall of 500,000 barrels in gasoline supplies and a decline of 1.7 million barrels for distillates, which includes heating oil.
“We are maintaining our view that the price will move higher in the coming weeks,” said Nico Pantelis, head of research at Secular Investor. “The next soft target is $50…but we think we could move higher within the $50-$60 range for oil, up until the next OPEC meeting on November 30th in Vienna, Austria.”