TOKYO- Oil prices climbed in Asian trade on Tuesday, extending gains from the previous session, buoyed by expectations of strong fuel demand from the US during the summer, ahead of an output policy decision from OPEC+ at a June 2 meeting.
July Brent crude rose 21 cents to $83.31 a barrel. The more-active August futures rose 21 cents to $83.09.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures for July were at $78.90 a barrel, up $1.18, or 1.52 percent , from Friday’s close, having traded through a US holiday to mark Memorial Day without a settlement.
Oil prices rose over 1 percent on Monday in muted trade owing to public holidays in Britain and the United States after a downbeat week characterized by the outlook for US interest rates in the face of sticky inflation.
Expectations of strong fuel demand with the start of the US summer driving and vacation season provided price support, some analysts said.
Despite the general view that higher-for-longer interest rates could result in weak oil demand growth, “real-time mobility data indicates oil demand growth is still broadly healthy,” said UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo in a client note.
On the air travel front, US seat numbers on domestic flights for May rose by 5 percent month on month and almost 6 percent year on year to slightly above 90 million, data from flight analytics firm OAG showed, surpassing 2019 levels.
