U.S. crude oil futures rose slightly from post-settlement levels Tuesday after the American Petroleum Institute reported a surprise decline in weekly domestic crude inventories, though sentiment remains fragile amid growing fears about an OPEC+ output hike.
Crude Oil WTI Futures, the U.S. benchmark, recently traded at $62.43 a barrel following the report after settling down 1.7% at $62.37 barrel. The lower settlement on Tuesday came as investors digested reports that OPEC+ is mulling a larger oil output hike for November, adding to concerns about an oversupply in the market.
U.S. crude inventories fell by about 3.7M barrels for the week ended Sept. 26, compared with a draw of 3.8M barrels reported by the API for the previous week. That confounded expectations for a build of about +1 million barrels.
