Tokyo - Oil prices edged lower in thin Asian trade on Tuesday as concerns over a global supply glut persisted, with few fresh leads for dealers to track.
US benchmark West Texas Intermediate fell seven cents to $58.86 while Brent crude eased ten cents to $66.35 in mid-morning trade.
“Oil prices are drifting with low volumes, indicating dealers across the Asia-Pacific region are sitting back with no major developments at the moment,” Michael McCarthy, chief market analyst at CMC Markets in Sydney, told AFP.
Financial markets in Japan and South Korea are closed on Tuesday for a public holiday.
McCarthy said dealers will next focus on the latest official US stockpiles report to be released on Wednesday.
Oil prices rose last week after the US Department of Energy's inventory report showed a 500 000-barrel drop in petroleum stocks to 61.7 million barrels at the key Cushing, Oklahoma trading hub, the first such decline since late November.
Traders took the decline as a sign producers are cutting back at key US petroleum sites.
Oil prices rose by about a fifth in April owing to several factors, including concerns about unrest in Yemen, the weakening dollar and fewer US rigs in operation.
However, prices remain well down after plunging almost 60 percent between June and January on the back of a global supply glut and ramped up production.
Overall US crude inventories likely rose by 1.2 million barrels through May 1, according to a Bloomberg News survey.
AFP