Oil gains as Iran tensions outweigh US supply boom

LONDON: Oil prices rose on Tuesday as tensions in the Middle East outweighed the impact of a resumption of production in the Gulf of Mexico after Hurricane Barry and a boom in US supply from shale oil.

But gains were capped by uncertainty about China’s economic prospects after data on Monday showed that growth in the country slowed to 6.2 per cent from a year earlier, the weakest pace in at least 27 years.

Brent crude futures were up 21 cents at $66.69 a barrel by 1030 GMT. The international benchmark lost 24 cents, or 0.4 per cent, on Monday.

West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose by 19 cents to $59.77 a barrel. The US benchmark fell about 1 per cent in the previous session.