Investing.com - West Texas Intermediate oil futures rebounded on Tuesday, as market players looked ahead to fresh weekly information on U.S. stockpiles of crude and refined products to gauge the strength of demand in the world’s largest oil consumer.
Crude oil for delivery in December on the New York Mercantile Exchange inched up 45 cents, or 0.97%, to trade at $46.73 a barrel during U.S. morning hours. A day earlier, Nymex oil prices lost $1.44, or 3.02%.
The American Petroleum Institute will release its inventories report later in the day, while Wednesday’s government report could show crude stockpiles rose by 3.7 million barrels in the week ended October 16.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil for December delivery tacked on 19 cents, or 0.38%, to trade at $48.80 a barrel.
On Monday, Brent futures tumbled $1.85, or 3.67%, as worries over the health of China's economy coupled with indications that Iran will boost crude output once sanctions are lifted drove down prices.
Oil traders focused on a special meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and non-OPEC members later in the day.
A meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC oil market experts in Vienna may shed further light on the group's position of maintaining production at current levels as prices remain muted.
The cartel invited eight non-member countries, including Russia, for talks on the market. OPEC's own meeting to set policy is not until December 4.
The oil market has been volatile in recent months amid uncertainty about how quickly the global glut of crude is set to shrink. Despite this tighter outlook for North America, output remains robust in other countries.
According to industry research group Baker Hughes (N:BHI), the number of rigs drilling for oil in the U.S. decreased by 10 last week to 595, the seventh straight weekly decline. Over the prior six weeks, drillers had cut 70 rigs.
However, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf OPEC members have indicated in recent months that they will continue to stick to their policy of defending market share by keeping production high.
Oil prices have lost nearly 60% since last summer as lingering concerns over a glut in world markets drove down prices.
Meanwhile, the spread between the Brent and the WTI crude contracts stood at $2.07 a barrel, compared to $2.33 by close of trade on Monday.