Crude Oil Futures Inch Up on Tuesday

Oil prices registered another gain on Tuesday, ahead of a weekly U.S. government data reports that are expected to reveal a decline in crude supplies, according to Bloomberg MarketWatch.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, July West Texas Intermediate crude rose 38 cents, or 0.8%, to settle at $46.46 a barrel.

On the London ICE Futures Exchange, August Brent crude, the global benchmark, added 43 cents, or 0.9%, to end trading at $48.72 a barrel.

July natural gas ended at $2.966 per million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down 5.8 cents, or 1.9%. That was the lowest finish since mid-March.

According to a monthly OPEC report issued on Tuesday, the cartel’s crude production rose in May, despite last month’s agreement to extend output cuts through March of next year. OPEC member output grew by 1% to more than 32.14 million barrels in May, with the rise attributed to increases from Libya, Nigeria and Iraq, according to the report.

The International Energy Agency’s monthly oil report, which includes figures on global oil production, will be released Wednesday.