WASHINGTON (Alliance News) - Crude oil prices are higher Tuesday morning, ahead of weekly oil status reports and a slew of crucial economic data.
While the American Petroleum Institute will come out with its data on crude inventories for the week ended December 19th, later in the day, the US Energy Information Administration will release its oil supply data on Wednesday.
Traders appear to be betting on hopes the US economy may have expanded more than expected in the third quarter.
Crude oil futures for February delivery are up USD0.69 or 1.25% at USD55.95 a barrel.
On Monday, crude oil futures ended down USD1.87 or 3.3% at USD55.26 a barrel.
Concerns over excess supply and demand growth worries dragged down oil prices. Some profit taking after last Friday's sharp upmove too contributed to oil's decline.
Saudi Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi said the OPEC will not reduce production even if non-OPEC producers decide to cut output. He even hinted that his country may increase production if any new buyers come into the picture.
Meanwhile, blaming non-OPEC producers for the fall in crude oil prices, the U.A.E. Energy Minister Suhail Al Mazrouei said on Sunday that non-OPEC producers should cut output.
Investors also await the weekly crude oil report from the American Petroleum Institute due late Tuesday, and the official weekly oil report from the US Energy Information Administration scheduled for release early Wednesday.
Light Sweet Crude Oil futures for February delivery, the most actively traded contract, plummeted USD1.87 or 3.3% to close at USD55.26 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Monday.
Crude prices for February delivery scaled a high of USD58.53 a barrel intraday and a low of USD55.13.
Meanwhile, natural gas for January is up USD0.077 or 2.47% at USD3.221 per million btu.
On the economic front, traders are looking ahead to data on US durable goods orders for November, reports on personal income and expenditure for the third quarter, revised third quarter GDP figures and data on new home sales for November.
