Investing.com – Crude oil prices settled higher on Tuesday as investors mulled over the prospect of fresh Middle East supply disruptions amid rising geopolitical tensions in the region after reports Saudi air defences intercepted a missile fired at Riyadh.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange crude futures for January delivery rose 30 cents to settle at $57.46 a barrel, while on London's Intercontinental Exchange, Brent rose 37 cents to trade at $63.77 a barrel.
Rising Middle East geopolitical tensions raised the prospect of supply disruptions after reports suggested that a missile was fired at Riyadh from Yemen.
“Coalition forces confirm intercepting an Iranian-Houthi missile targeting (the) south of Riyadh. There are no reported casualties at this time,” the government-run Center for International Communication wrote on its Twitter account.
Reports of the missile launch come as investors digested an update from operator of the Forties pipeline Ineos who said Tuesday that the timeframe for the fix remained two to four weeks starting from Dec. 11, the date of the shutdown.
Also supporting sentiment was expectations for a fifth-straight weekly draw of US crude stockpiles ahead of API inventory data slated for Tuesday, with an the Energy Information Agency inventory report expected a day later on Wednesday.