Oil rises on strong factory activity

Shafaq News / Oil prices rose on Tuesday, as better-than-expected data for factory activity in the United States fueled hopes for an economic recovery in the wake of the pandemic, while analysts expected a decline in US crude stocks for the sixth consecutive week.

Brent crude futures rose 30 cents to settle at $ 45.58 a barrel.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures closed at $ 42.76 a barrel, up 15 cents.

"Everyone is expecting a drop, to some degree, from the American Petroleum Institute this evening; but optimism was also boosted due to the factory numbers and

the AstraZeneca vaccine," said Bob Youger, director of energy contracts at Mizuho in New York.

Analysts predicted in a Reuters poll that US crude stocks fell by about two million barrels last week, ahead of the release of weekly data from the American Petroleum Institute at 20:30 GMT and from the government on Wednesday.

It is expected that gasoline stocks have declined by more than three million barrels.