WTI and Brent Book Slight Gains on Tuesday as Traders Await Inventory Data

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Crude oil futures settled slightly higher on Tuesday as traders remained concerned about domestic production output during a time when the OPEC production curb appears to be working favorably, according to Bloomberg MarketWatch.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, March West Texas Intermediate crude tacked on 18 cents, or 0.3%, to settle at $52.81 a barrel.

March Brent crude, the global benchmark, added 47 cents, or 0.9%, to close at $55.70 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures Exchange. The Brent March contract expired on Tuesday, while the most active April contract finished up 26 cents, or 0.5%, to end trading at $55.58 a barrel.

Domestic oil production stood at 8.96 million barrels a day for the week ending January 20, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

The EIA will provide an update on U.S. oil production Wednesday, along with weekly figures on petroleum supplies. The American Petroleum Institute will release its own data on petroleum stockpiles late Tuesday.

Analysts polled by S&P Global Platts forecast a climb of 2.2 million barrels for crude supplies.

Meanwhile, March natural gas fell by 11.5 cents, or 3.6%, to settle at $3.1170 per million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. For the month, natural gas shed 16.3%, marking the largest monthly decline on a percentage basis since February.