Prices eased after rising at the fastest pace in more than
four months on Monday. West Texas Intermediate US crude was down 1 cent, or
0.01 per cent, to $72.80 a barrel. Brent crude futures fell 19 cents to $77.93
a barrel by 0651 GMT.
"Though risks remain in the banking system amid the
recent event, dip-buys in crude oil could be the prevailing trend in the near
term," said Tina Teng, an analyst at CMC Markets.
Prices rose in the previous session after Turkey stopped
pumping crude from Kurdistan via a pipeline following an arbitration decision
that confirmed Baghdad's consent was needed to ship the oil.
Monday's announcement that First Citizens BancShares Inc
will acquire deposits and loans of failed Silicon Valley Bank spurred optimism
about the condition of the banking sector that has roiled financial markets.
Oil prices were also likely to continue drawing support from
indications of recovering Chinese demand.
China's crude oil imports are expected to rise 6.2 per cent
in 2023 to 540 million tonnes, according to an annual forecast by a research
unit of China National Petroleum Corp on Monday.
"China's manufacturing and services PMIs will be a
major economic driver to oil prices as positive data is most likely to further
improve the demand outlook," Teng said.
US crude oil stockpiles were seen rising about 200,000
barrels last week, a preliminary Reuters poll showed on Monday.
The American Petroleum Institute (API), an industry group,
will publish its inventory data at 4:30 p.m. EDT on Tuesday and the US Energy
Information Administration at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday.