Brent crude futures declined 1 cent to $71.82 a barrel and U.S. WTI crude futures were at $68.07 a barrel, up 3 cents
Oil prices were little changed in early trading on Tuesday, awaiting further price direction from OPEC’s monthly report after China’s stimulus plan and oversupply concerns impacted the markets in earlier sessions.
Brent crude futures declined 1 cent to $71.82 a barrel, by 0158 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $68.07 a barrel, up 3 cents.
Both contracts had dropped by more than 5 per cent over the earlier two trading sessions. China on Friday unveiled a 10 trillion yuan ($1.40 trillion) debt package to ease local government financing strains, but some analysts said it fell short of the amount of stimulus that would be needed to boost growth.
Further price direction will come from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) monthly report due to be released later on Tuesday. The market will be looking out for further downward revisions in demand from the group’s outlook through 2025, which would add to downward pressure on prices.
Prompt time spreads for Brent and West Texas Intermediate have collapsed recently, moving closer to contango, suggesting a better-supplied physical market, ING analysts said in a note.
When a futures market is in contango, contracts for prompt delivery are less than for future delivery, indicating the market is well supplied in the near term or that demand for oil is greater in the future.
The U.S. dollar ended higher on Monday as markets braced for further signals from U.S. inflation data and Fed speakers this week.
That makes commodities denominated in the U.S. currency, such as oil, more expensive for holders of other currencies and tends to weigh on prices.
