By Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch
MADRID (MarketWatch) — Crude-oil futures climbed above $93 a barrel Tuesday ahead of supply data expected to show a rise in stockpiles.
Oil for February delivery CLG3 +0.19% rose 24 cents to $93.45 a barrel in electronic trading.
The contract on Monday closed with a small gain at $93.19 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest settlement for the February contract since the middle of October.
Last week, crude prices rose 2.5% after a big drop in crude supplies, and analysts are expecting this week’s data to show a rebound.
Andrey Kryuchenkov, commodities analyst at VTB Capital, said in emailed comments that not much should be read into current crude moves, with volumes still low.
“Also, we only just breached yesterday’s narrow trading range, coinciding with a small pullback for intraday lows in equities and a small retreat in the greenback,” said Kryuchenkov.
The American Petroleum Institute is expected to post its inventory report on Tuesday afternoon, and the Energy Information Administration will report its supply data on Wednesday morning. Read Monday's Futures Movers story for a preview of oil supply
U.S. stock futures pointed to a slight drop at the open for Wall Street. Read: Stock futures flat ahead of data, Alcoa
Elsewhere among energy contracts, February natural gas fell 5 cents, or 1.5% to $3.22 per million British thermal units.
Gasoline for February delivery RBG3 +0.70% rose 2 cents to $2.80 a gallon. Heating oil for February delivery HOG3 +0.95% rose 3 cents, or 1%, to $3.06 a gallon.
Barbara Kollmeyer is an editor for MarketWatch in Madrid. Follow her on Twitter @bkollmeyer.
