Oil prices were mixed on Tuesday as concerns about global crude oil demand and uncertainty over the latest round of US-China trade talks countered investor optimism around tightening supplies.
Brent crude slipped 5 cents to settle at $66.45 a barrel, hovering below its 2019 high of $66.83 reached on Monday. US crude was up 50 cents to $56.09 a barrel, its highest since November 2018.
Washington’s sanctions on oil out of Venezuela, a top supplier of sour crude to the United States, has helped support US futures prices, said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago.
“Some of those sour grades are lifting the WTI… That seems to be the situation short term,” Flynn said.
