Crude oil futures ended higher on Tuesday as expectations of further declines in US crude inventories. US crude inventories were expected to fall for an eighth consecutive week, while gasoline stocks also declined. However, the upside remained capped by fears over the spread of the highly infectious Delta virus. The World Health Organization warned the delta variant was becoming dominant and many countries had yet to receive enough doses of vaccine to secure their health workers. Meanwhile, OPEC+ is yet to make progress closing divisions between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates that last week prevented a deal to raise oil output, making another policy meeting this week less likely.
Crude oil futures for August rose 40 cents or 0.50 percent to settle at $74.50 barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. September Brent crude gained 43 cents or 0.6 percent to settle at $75.59 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.