Oil prices hovered near $68 a barrel on Tuesday in Asia for a fifth day as the U.S. summer driving season wound down and OPEC planned to meet on Wednesday.
Benchmark crude for October delivery was up 35 cents at $68.37 a barrel at midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Trading was closed on Monday in the U.S. for the Labour Day holiday, so the contract last settled on Friday at $68.02 after rising 6 cents.
Labour Day is traditionally seen in the U.S. as the end of summer, and demand usually falls in the autumn before rebounding in the winter as heating oil consumption picks up.
“The seasonal demand is really coming to an end right now,” said Jonathan Kornafel, Asia director for market maker Hudson Capital Energy in Singapore. “It looks as if the bearish pressures are going to win out.”
Leaders of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries have signalled they plan to keep output levels unchanged at the group’s meeting Wednesday in Vienna. That could send oil prices lower as traders eye OPEC members producing more and more over official quotas.
“Compliance levels have been dropping every month because many of the members have been cheating,” Kornafel said. “So if they don’t cut quotas, more oil will be entering the market.”
In other NYME trading, gasoline for October delivery fell 0.63 cent to $1.77 a gallon, and heating oil rose 0.98 cent to $1.73 a gallon. Natural gas dropped 6.8 cents to $2.66 per 1,000 cubic feet.
In London, Brent crude was up 46 cents to $66.99.
