LONDON: Oil prices were flat on Tuesday when traders turned cautious ahead of key testimony from US Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke, analysts said.
New York s main futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in August, edged up three cents to $63.91 a barrel in late morning trading. The August contract expires at the close.
Brent North Sea crude for September delivery fell nine cents to $66.35 per barrel.
Traders will be keeping a keen eye on Bernanke s semi-annual congressional testimony over two days starting later Tuesday.
Crude prices were fairly flat … as market participants remain on the sidelines ahead of Bernanke s semi-annual testimony on the economic outlook and monetary policy, which should shed further light on the state of the world s largest oil consuming country, said Sucden analyst Nimit Khamar.
Khamar added: Market participants will also be looking forward to the weekly US inventories report.
The US government s Department of Energy will publish its latest snapshot of American energy inventories on Wednesday.
Crude futures had bounced higher on Monday, buoyed by improved optimism about recovery from global recession and encouraging company earnings that have also lifted stock markets.
Later on Tuesday, investors will track a barrage of US earnings from heavyweight companies including Apple, Caterpillar, Coca-Cola, Lockheed Martin, Schering Plough, Starbucks and Yahoo.
Even though the earnings reports for the second quarter for the US companies have been bullish thus far, there remains caution for the prospect of economic recovery, said Victor Shum, an analyst at Purvin and Gertz energy consultants in Singapore.
Meanwhile, traders were keeping an eye on Iran, where disputed election results have threatened the stability of the oil-producing nation.
The Islamic republic produces about 3.8 million barrels of crude per day and is the third biggest global oil exporter after Russia and OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia.
Iranian hardliners denounced on Tuesday a call by reformists for a referendum to resolve the deepening political crisis in the Islamic republic, branding it a Western plot to cause more havoc.
The Association of Combatant Clerics, a reformist group led by former president Mohammad Khatami, on Monday urged a referendum to try to end the turmoil gripping Iran since the June 12 disputed presidential election. – AFP
