Crude oil futures were steady in Asia on Tuesday in sluggish trade, as market participants remained on the sidelines ahead of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's testimony to the U.S. Congress scheduled on Wednesday.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in June traded at $96.76 a barrel at 0643 GMT, up $0.05 in the Globex electronic session. July Brent crude on London's ICE Futures exchange fell $0.09 to $104.71 a barrel.
Several economic indicators are due in Europe later on Tuesday, but "they wouldn't affect oil prices very much, as traders are focused on what Bernanke will say," Nihon Unicom analyst Hiroyuki Kikukawa said.
If Mr. Bernanke hints at winding down the Fed's long-running stimulus program, it may trigger a selling spree in commodities, including crude oil, and the Nymex front month contract may drop to around $92/bbl on anticipation of a stronger dollar, he added.
The Fed's stimulus program has weakened the dollar, buoying dollar-denominated oil prices in other currencies.
In the longer run, crude oil prices will also remain weak, reflecting excessive supply in the global market, Citi Futures & OTC Clearing energy-futures specialist Timothy Evans said.
A surplus of 940,000 barrels a day globally has been estimated in the second quarter, based on data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and the International Energy Agency, Mr. Evans said in a note.
Nymex reformulated gasoline blendstock for June--the benchmark gasoline contract--rose 1 points to $2.9057 a gallon, while June heating oil traded at $2.9510, 2 points higher.
ICE gasoil for June changed hands at $882.25 a metric ton, down $0.75 from Monday's settlement.
