By Yasin Ebrahim
Investing.com – U.S. crude oil prices rose higher Tuesday, but see-sawed during the session as strength from dollar weakness was curbed by fears that weather-related travel disruptions could weigh on demand.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange crude futures settled up 90 cents at $75.99 a barrel, while on London's Intercontinental Exchange, Brent added 19 cents to settle at $79.99 a barrel.
Oil prices started the day on the front foot, supported by a drop in the dollar amid pressure from surging yen in the wake of the Bank of Japan’s hawkish pivot.
The Bank of Japan rattled investors overnight after announcing that it would allow 10-year Japanese government yields to rise as much as 50 basis points, or 0.5%. That was up from the previous 25 basis point cap, and signals the BoJ’s “first step toward tighter monetary policy by widening the target range for bond yield,” Commerzbank said in a note.
But the price action continued to be choppy as investors mulled the impact of potential travel disruptions from a powerful storm, set to develop in the Midwest, on demand.
The storm is expected to bring blizzard conditions on Thursday and Friday, producing heavy snow and rain that will likely disrupt land and air travel.
Concerns about disruption to demand come just as expectations for a wave of supply of barrels is set to flow into the market. TC Energy (NYSE:TRP) Corp reportedly submitted a plan to restart the Keystone pipeline to U.S. regulators, Reuters reported, citing an unnamed source.
The pipeline was partially reopening last week following a two-week hiatus after it was shut following a leak.
Oil prices were also propped up by expectations that U.S. crude stockpiles fell last week following a large build in the prior week.
Energy Information Administration (EIA) is set to release its latest petroleum data on Wednesday.
The EIA is expected to report crude stockpiles fell by 1.7 million barrels for the week ended Dec. 14.