LONDON--Brent crude oil futures rose from fresh six-week lows in London trading Tuesday, after five straight sessions of losses.
There was little strength seen in the rally, however, and the front-month contract struggled to keep its head above the $107 a barrel mark.
Brent crude for February delivery was up 32 cents, or 0.3%, at $107.05 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe. U.S. crude-oil futures were up 35 cents, or 0.4%, at $93.78 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Fundamentally, there appears to be little reason for oil prices to be on this downward slope, said David Hufton of brokerage PVM.
"There is trouble in South Sudan, Libyan production threatens to be partially on again but never quite comes through and the U.S. is experiencing the lowest temperatures for 20 years," he said. "The answer probably can be found in end-year pricing agendas, which are more easily achieved when volumes are light."
Commerzbank flagged a likely withdrawal of speculative money from the market.
Speculators increased their bets that the price of Brent crude would rise just before the fall in prices around the New Year, according to data published Monday by the IntercontinentalExchange Group Inc. (ICE). Money managers, including hedge funds, raised their net long position--or bets that prices will rise--by 5.9% in the week to Dec. 31, after a 41% increase in the week before Christmas. Investors also expanded their net long positions in WTI to a four-month high in the same week.
Later in the global day, the weekly round of U.S. oil stockpiles data will commence with the American Petroleum Institute's weekly statistical bulletin. The more closely watched inventory data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration is due Wednesday.
The ICE's gasoil contract for January delivery was down 25 cents at $910.00 a metric ton, while Nymex gasoline for February delivery was up 162 points at $2.6622 a gallon.
