Oil edges higher on Mideast tension, likely crude stocks drawdown By Reuters – Investing.com

Oil edges higher on Mideast tension, likely crude stocks drawdown By Reuters – Investing.com

© Reuters. Views of Total Grandpuits oil refinery

By Jessica Jaganathan SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices edged higher on Tuesday on tensions in the Middle East after the Yemen-based Houthi movement said it fired missiles on Saudi oil sites and on an expected drawdown in crude oil inventory in the United States. Still, crude prices have remained rangebound in the past three weeks, as growing expectations of surging economic activity in the U.S. and China are balanced by the slow rate of vaccinations in Europe and anticipation of additional supply of oil from Iran in the coming months. futures was up 9 cents, or 0.1%, at $63.37 a barrel by 0055 GMT while oil futures gained 11 cents, or 0.2%, to $59.81 a barrel. "Crude oil prices struggled to break out of the recent trading range amid an uncertain outlook for the market," ANZ Research analysts said in a note. U.S. crude oil stockpiles were expected to have dropped last week for a third straight week, while distillate and gasoline inventories likely grew, a preliminary Reuters poll showed on Monday. The poll was conducted ahead of reports from the American Petroleum Institute, an industry group,