Oil prices recovered slightly in Tuesday’s trading as West Texas Intermediate rose 50 cents and settled for the day at $63.51 per barrel on May futures.
Brent crude in London’s ICE Futures Europe Exchange settled 48 cents higher at $68.12 per barrel on June futures.
Natural gas on the New York Mercantile Exchange was up only a penny and settled at $2.70 Mmbtu.
The increase in crude prices was part of a recovery following the 3 percent slump that occurred Monday. But experts say expectations for continued growth in U.S. crude stockpiles, including those at the Cushing tank farm are what’s keeping a lid on a major increase in oil prices.
Inventories held at the key Cushing, Oklahoma, pipeline hub likely rose by 2.4 million barrels last week.
One thing that is supporting the price level are supply cuts led by OPEC. The cartel’s output in March dropped to the lowest in a year.