Investing.com - Oil recovered off early lows on Tuesday, but stayed below $50, pressured by a glut in supply and worries about a fragile demand outlook.
U.S. crude rose 1.1% to $46.65 a barrel, while Brent futures were also up more than 1% to $49.36 at 7 AM Eastern Time.
Oils gains were held in check by Russian production hitting a post-Soviet peak and a weaker outlook for demand from China.
In addition, Gulf oil producers are delaying some field maintenance until next year to keep production high and reduce costs as they forecast ongoing low oil prices in 2016.
The American Petroleum Institute was to issue its preliminary inventory data later Tuesday before official numbers on Wednesday from the U.S. government.