Investing.com - Crude oil prices held mostly steady in early Asia on Wednesday as the market mulled the latest US industry weekly inventory estimates and monitored geopolitical risks.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange crude futures for January delivery rose 0.02% to $57.48 a barrel, while on London's Intercontinental Exchange, Brent was flat at $62.66 a barrel.
The American Petroleum Institute (API) reported on Tuesday that US crude stocks fell by 5.481 million barrels, more than the 4.1 million decline seen.
The API data showed a jump of 9.2 million barrels in gasoline stockpiles, while inventories of distillates rose about 4.3 million barrels, sources said. Supply data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) will be released Wednesday morning.
Current analyst estimates for the EIA data expect a drop of 3.404 million barrels in crude, a gain of 967,000 barrels for distillates and an increase of 1.741 million barrels in gasoline.
Yonhap reported that US B1 bombers plan flights over the Korean peninsula Wednesday as part of an annual military exercises that rile Pyongyang. The week-long drills come a week after North Korea tested what it called its most advanced ICBM and warned that the exercises would push the Korean peninsula to "the brink of nuclear war."
Elsewhere, Sky News reported that an Islamist suicide attack was planned against Downing Street and British PM Theresa May, but was foiled by police and security services.
Overnight, crude oil futures settled higher on Tuesday as market participants continued to expect that ongoing strong OPEC compliance with the production-cut deal will continue to support oil prices.
OPEC oil output fell in November by 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) to its lowest since May, a Reuters survey found on Monday, as the oil cartel maintained strong compliance with the deal to curb output.
Expectations for ongoing strong OPEC compliance stoked investor hopes that rebalancing in oil markets would continue through 2018 as Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) raised its 2018 forecasts for both Brent and WTI.
Goldman Sachs raised its 2018 forecasts on Brent and WTI to $62 per barrel, and $57.50 a barrel, respectively. That is an increase from its previous 2018 Brent forecast of $58 per barrel and WTI forecast of $55 per barrel.
“While the deal leaves room for an earlier exit than currently scheduled, we now reflect this resolve in our supply forecast, with full compliance for longer and a more modest exit rate,” Goldman Sachs analysts said in a note.
U.S. crude production, meanwhile, is likely to be closely monitored amid fears that U.S. producers are set to ramp up output.
U.S. output rose in September to 9.5 million barrels per day (bpd), the highest monthly output since 2015, the EIA said last week.