WTI slightly higher in late trade

The price of crude oil was slightly higher on Tuesday, with West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery up 6 cents to $72.12 per barrel in late trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange following the decision by the Federal Reserve to hold interest rates steady for another month and ahead of Wednesday’s US inventories data for the week ending August 3.

Analysis expect that gasoline inventories will have gone up by around 1 million barrels, while crude oil stockpiles are expected to decline by 2 million barrels and refinery utilization is anticipated to have risen again.

In London, meanwhile, Brent Crude September contracts ended 76 cents higher to $71.903 per barrel on the Intercontinental Exchange.

Nymex September gasoline was up 2 cents to $1.94 per gallon near the end of floor trade for the day, while September heating oil was also 2 cents higher, to $1.96 per gallon.

September natural gas was 1 cent lower to trade at $6.20 per million British thermal units.