By Florence Tan
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Oil prices eased slightly on Tuesday as markets braced for uncertainties from the U.S. presidential election, after rising more than 2% in the past session as OPEC+ delayed plans to hike production in December and eased supply concerns.
Brent crude futures fell 15 cents, or 0.2%, to $74.93 a barrel by 0106 GMT while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $71.33 a barrel, down 14 cents, or 0.2%.
“We are now in the calm before the storm,” IG market analyst Tony Sycamore said, adding investors are focusing on the outcome of the U.S. election and the National People’s Congress (NPC) meeting in China which could announce more stimulus measures.
Oil prices were supported by Sunday’s announcement from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies, a group known as OPEC+, to push back a production hike by a month from December as weak demand and rising non-OPEC supply depress markets.
Still, OPEC oil output rebounded in October as Libya resumed output, a Reuters survey found, although a further Iraqi effort to meet its cuts pledged to the wider OPEC+ alliance limited the gain.
More oil could come from OPEC producer Iran as Tehran has approved a plan to increase output by 250,000 barrels per day, the oil ministry’s news website Shana reported on Monday.
In the U.S., a late season tropical storm predicted to intensify into a category 2 hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico this week could reduce oil production by about 4 million barrels, researchers said.
“Technically, crude oil needs to rebound above resistance at $71.50/72.50 to negate the downside risks,” Sycamore said, referring to WTI prices.
“All of which suggests there won’t be a scramble to chase it higher in the short term.”
Ahead of U.S. weekly oil data on Wednesday, a preliminary Reuters poll showed on Monday that U.S. crude stockpiles likely rose last week, while distillate and gasoline inventories fell.
(Reporting by Florence Tan; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
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