WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Oil prices held steady on Tuesday after a report showed new home prices in China grew slightly faster in March, signaling an economic rebound.
China will publish first quarter GDP growth figures tomorrow, along with monthly industrial output and retail sales numbers.
Benchmark Brent crude was marginally higher at $71.22 a barrel while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 0.1 percent at $63.49 a barrel.
The upside remained limited as investors fretted about oversupply after a Russian minister said the nation and OPEC may boost crude output to fight the United States for market share.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies will meet in June to discuss whether to extend production cuts.
'There is a dilemma. What should we do with OPEC: should we lose the market, which is being occupied by the Americans, or quit the deal?' TASS quoted Russia's Finance Minister Anton Siluanov as saying in Washington.
Siluanov said oil prices could drop to $40 per barrel or even less for up to one year if the deal is abandoned.
Expectations of higher U.S. inventories also kept a lid on prices ahead of this week's stockpile report due from the American Petroleum Institute later in the day.
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