Crude Oil Ends Higher On Libya, Ukraine Concerns

(RTTNews) - U.S. crude oil ended higher for a third straight session Tuesday, on growing concerns of possible supply disruptions from Russia amid the prevailing geopolitical tensions in Ukraine.

With violence in the Libyan capital over the weekend, investors remained cautious over the start of Libyan crude oil shipments. Meanwhile, French oil giant Total says it will cut its presence in capital Tripoli to a minimum over security concerns.

Nonetheless, the gains were limited with an expected build in U.S. stockpiles.

Light Sweet Crude Oil futures for July delivery, the most actively traded contract, gained $0.22 or 0.2 percent to close at $102.33 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Tuesday.

Crude prices for July delivery scaled a high of $102.44 a barrel intraday and a low of $101.69.

The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. unit against six major currencies, traded at 80.06 on Tuesday, up from its previous close of 80.02 late Monday in North American trade. The dollar scaled a high of 80.13 intraday and a low of 80.00.

The euro traded lower against the dollar at $1.3693 on Tuesday, as compared to its previous close of $1.3709 late Monday in North America. The euro scaled a high of $1.3713 intraday and a low of $1.3678.

In economic news, gross domestic product for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries grew at a slower pace in the first quarter, with the provisional estimates showing the real quarter-on-quarter growth to have slowed to 0.4 percent, from 0.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2013.

From Europe, U.K. inflation accelerated more-than-expected on higher transport costs in April, while factory gate inflation continued to remain subdued signaling weak inflationary pressure in the pipeline. Consumer price inflation rose to 1.8 percent from 1.6 percent in March, which was the lowest since October 2009, the Office for National Statistics said Tuesday. This was the first time since June 2013 that the annual rate increased and also exceeded economists' consensus of 1.7 percent. But it has remained below the 2 percent target since January.

Meanwhile, Charles Plosser, president of the Philadelphia Fed. Believes the Federal Reserve may raise interest rates sooner than expected if the U.S. economy continues to speed up after the winter lull. He predicts the recovery will pick up in the second of 2014 and into next year, prompting the Fed to "begin raising interest rates sooner rather than later."

Plosser sees unemployment dwindling below 5.9 percent by the end of this year. Despite some recent weakness in the housing market, the U.S. economy "is on the firmest footing it has been on since the recovery began," said Plosser.

Investors also await the minutes of the U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting, due Wednesday.

U.S. inventories will be in focus as the government releases its weekly figures Wednesday morning. Industry group American Petroleum Institute is out with its own estimates later this afternoon.