NEW YORK, Nov. 3 (UPI) — Crude oil prices recovered some lost ground in early Tuesday trading, though outlooks remain uncertain moving into the fourth quarter.
The price for Brent crude oil gained 0.7 percent just before the opening bell in New York to $49.19 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark price for crude oil, gained 1.1 percent in early trading to $46.66 per barrel.
Crude oil prices are moving lower because an overall increase in production and a general lack of global economic growth is pushing markets toward the supply side. Crude oil prices lost ground Monday after Russia reported an increase in production at the same time that China reported signs of economic contraction.
Russian Central Bank Chief Elvira Nabiullina said Tuesday the market for crude oil is undergoing a structural transformation and oil prices should stay low “for a long period of time.”
Crude oil prices could face further pressure from additional supplies from Iran, which said this week it was in talks with major European energy companies about post-sanctions activity.
One week ago, the World Bank said it was lowering its full-year forecast for crude oil prices by $5 per barrel to $52 per barrel. John Baffes, a senior commodities researcher for the bank, said higher inventories of crude oil in storage, coupled with weaker demand, should keep oil prices “persistently low.”
Tuesday’s early rally may be short-lived as markets await data on U.S. inventories from the American Petroleum Institute and, later, from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Data show consistent builds in U.S. crude oil inventories, with API reporting an increase of a little more than 7 million barrels last week.
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