By Shawn Langlois, MarketWatch
LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) — Oil futures stayed below $100 a barrel on Tuesday ahead of two reports that are expected to show further evidence of rising supply.
Crude for December delivery CLX3 -0.53% shed 21 cents, or 0.2%, to $99.01 a barrel in electronic trade. Brent crude UK:LCOZ3 +0.71% , meanwhile, tacked on 9 cents to $109.73 a barrel.
A day earlier, oil futures fell 1.6% to $99.22 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, their lowest level since early July. U.S. government data showed that stockpiles of crude rose more than expected, marking a fourth-straight week of rising inventories.
After being delayed due to the shutdown, the Energy Information Administration reported Monday that crude-oil supplies jumped by 4 million barrels for the week ended Oct. 11. Analysts were looking for a rise of.25 million barrels.
In a new batch of data, U.S. commercial crude oil stocks are expected to have increased 3 million barrels for the week ending Oct. 18, according to Platts. The American Petroleum Institute will release the data at 4:30 p.m. Eastern, while the U.S. Energy Information Administration is scheduled to post its weekly numbers at 10:30 a.m. Eastern on Wednesday.
Platts said the rise in supply is likely a product of continued lower crude oil runs at U.S. refineries, in addition to a rebound in U.S. domestic crude oil production.
Later Tuesday, investors will look for the U.S. Labor Department’s September jobs report, which was delayed because of the government shutdown. Economists polled by MarketWatch expect the economy added 185,000 new jobs, more than the 169,000 jobs created in August. The unemployment rate is likely to remain at 7.3%.
Elsewhere, November gasoline RBX3 +0.50% held at $2.66 a gallon and heating oil stayed at $3.01 a gallon. November natural gas NGX13 -0.33% dipped 1 cent, or 0.2%, to $3.66 per million British thermal units.
