Basra's crudes post small gains as global benchmarks slip on Tuesday
Shafaq News/ The prices of the Basra crude to Asian customers slightly rose on Tuesday despite a decreased appetite for oil in the global market.
Basra's intermediate and heavy crudes gained only $0.02 to settle at $79.99 and $74.24, respectively, on Tuesday.
Brent oil, a benchmark for two third of the world's oil, slipped in a volatile session on Tuesday as persistent concerns about global economic growth outweighed supply curbs and prompted investors to take profits on the previous day's gains.
The focus in the wider financial market is firmly on the release on Wednesday of the minutes of the U.S. Federal Reserve's latest meeting, after recent data raised the risk of interest rates remaining higher for longer.
Global benchmark Brent crude was down 44 cents, or 0.5%, at $83.63 a barrel by 1435 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for March, which expires on Tuesday, was up 32 cents at $76.66.
The market rallied, with Brent briefly turning positive, after better than expected business activity surveys in Europe and the UK pointed to a less gloomy European economic outlook than previously feared.
On Monday oil prices rose by more than 1% on optimism over Chinese demand that analysts expect to rebound this year after COVID-19 restrictions were scrapped.
The U.S. crude contract did not settle on Monday because of a public holiday in the United States. As a result, the weekly American Petroleum Institute report on U.S. inventories will be out on Wednesday rather than the usual Tuesday.
