Investing.com - Oil was lower Tuesday after hitting one-month highs overnight as an OPEC meeting on extending output cuts neared.
U.S. crude was off 17 cents, or 0.33%, at $50.96 at 08:00 ET. Brent shed 17 cents, or 0.32%, to $53.70.
OPEC and non-OPEC producers are due to meet Thursday on extending cuts of 1.8 million barrels a day in the first half.
Hopes are high that the scale back in production will be extended for another nine months to March.
American Petroleum Institute stockpile weekly data are due out later in the session.
These will be followed Wednesday by the Energy Information Administration's inventories report.
The EIA is forecast to report a fall of 2.73 million barrels in U.S. crude stocks in the latest week.
Investors also noted a White House budget proposal to sell half of the U.S. strategic oil reserves.