Brent, WTI gain ahead of meetings, EIA inventories report

Crude oil prices rose on Tuesday as investors paid more attention to speculation that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates again this week and to the probability that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will hold production at its present level when it meets later in the week in Vienna than they did to projections that this week’s US inventories report will show that crude oil stockpiles were up last week.

Also tending to send prices higher was an announcement from one refiner that it will reduce output at one of its Texas refineries by 100,000 barrels per day beginning next month, leaving production at the lower level for two and a half months as it performs maintenance there.

March contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude added 66 cents to $91.65 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange while Brent crude for March delivery gained 63 cents to $92.01 on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London.

Nymex February gasoline added less than 1 cent to $2.32 per gallon while March heating oil added 2 cents to $2.54 per gallon.

March natural gas, however, dropped 10 cents to $7.95 per million British thermal units.