Oil prices steadied on Tuesday after falling for the past two sessions, as investors remained cautious amid expectations of plentiful supplies and weak demand while brushing off the U.S. presidential campaign upheaval.
Brent crude futures for September rose 2 cents to $82.42 a barrel by 0320 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for September dipped 2 cents to $78.38 per barrel.
Traders mostly ignored U.S. President Joe Biden’s decision to call off his re-election bid and endorse Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday.
Citi analysts said they believed neither Harris nor Republican nominee Donald Trump would promote policies that would greatly affect oil and gas operations.
Instead, the market focused on fundamentals, which Morgan Stanley analysts said were likely to balance out by the fourth quarter and rise to a supply surplus by next year, which would drag down Brent prices to the mid-to-high $70s per barrel range.
Any uptick in oil prices was more because of market consolidation and dip buying activity, said Priyanka Sachdeva, senior market analyst at Phillip Nova.
