Crude Oil Prices Rebound amid Middle-East Tensions

Investing.com – Crude oil bounced higher on Tuesday, as Middle-East tensions sparked concerns over potantial supply disruptions, although rising U.S. output levels continued to weigh.

The U.S. West Texas Intermediate April contract was up 67 cents or about 1.05% at $67.28 a barrel by 04:30 a.m. ET (08:30 GMT), the highest since March 6.

Elsewhere, for May delivery on the ICE Futures Exchange in London gained 53 cents or about 0.80% to $66.58 a barrel, the highest since February 28.

Oil prices were supported by news the U.S. could reimpose sanctions on Iran, while fresh sparked fears of supply disruptions in the region.

But gains were expected to remain capped ahead of the American Petroleum Institute’s on U.S. oil supplies, due later Tuesday.

The U.S. Energy Information Agency is set to release its on oil and gasoline stockpiles on Wednesday.

The commodity had come under pressure after Baker Hughes energy services firm said on Friday that the number of active U.S. oil rigs increased by in the week to March 16, bringing the total count to 800.

High drilling activity has pushed U.S. crude oil production to rise to 10.38 million barrels per day (bpd), past top exporter Saudi Arabia.

Analysts and traders have warned that booming U.S. shale oil production could potentially derail the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ efforts to rein in a global supply glut and support prices.

OPEC agreed in December to cut oil output by 1.8 million bpd until the end of 2018. The agreement was due to end in March 2018, having already been extended once.

Elsewhere, advanced 0.60% to $1.940 a gallon, while were down 0.08% at $2.657 per million British thermal units.

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