WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Crude oil prices rose sharply on Tuesday, lifted by data showing a notable jump in Chinese crude oil imports in the month of September.
Still, oil's upside was somewhat capped due to a surge in crude output in the Gulf of Mexico region as work in oil facilities resumed. Several facilities along the region had remained shuttered last week due to Hurricane Delta.
West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November ended up $0.77 or almost 2% at $40.20 a barrel, recovering well after suffering a 3% drop in the previous session.
Brent crude futures moved up $0.72 or 1.7% to $42.44 a barrel.
According to data, China imported 11.8 million barrels of oil per day in September. That was about 5.5% more than its imports a month earlier. Year-on-year, imports were up as much as 17.5%.
A report published by the International Energy Agency in its The World Energy Outlook 2020 says global energy demand will likely fall 5% in 2020.
Oil demand growth is expected to end next decade and will remain vulnerable to economic uncertainties caused by Covid, executive director Fatih Birol said, and added that 'without a large shift in government policies, there is no sign of a rapid decline' in oil demand.
'Based on today's policy settings, a global economic rebound would soon push oil demand back to pre-crisis levels.'
Investors are looking ahead to weekly oil reports from the American Petroleum Institute (API) and U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).
While API's report is due on Wednesday, the EIA will release its weekly inventory data Thursday morning.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX