Oil Adds To Losses Ahead Of OPEC, DOE Reports

Oil futures extended their decline in electronic trade early Tuesday ahead of key energy forecasts due out later in the day.

U.S. benchmark crude’s July contract  lost 12 cents, or 0.1%, to $95.65 a barrel, extending a 0.3% loss during Monday’s New York Mercantile Exchange trade which sent the futures below the $96 mark.

Likewise, London-traded Brent crude for July  gave up 25 cents, or 0.2%, to sell for $103.70 a barrel. The moved added to Brent’s 0.6% drop on Monday, as the North Sea’s Buzzard oil field returned to full production.

The losses preceded the release of month forecasts from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the U.S. Department of Energy.

In terms of the OPEC report, Citi Futures analysts repeated late Monday that they “think this month’s forecasts will make little change in the overall demand outlook, but also confirm that OPEC production increased about [100,000 barrels per day] during May.”

The markets were also waiting on weekly U.S. supply data from the American Petroleum Institute, which was due out at 4:30 p.m. U.S. Eastern time.

Elsewhere in the energy complex, July gasoline  rose more than 2 cents, or 0.7%, to $2.88 a gallon, while July heating oil  held steady at $2.88 a gallon.

Natural gas for July delivery  surrendered a penny, or 0.3%, to trade at $3.79 per million British thermal units.

Source : Marketwatch