NYMEX crude oil up in Asia as API data awaited, China price data mixed

Investing.com - Crude oil prices rose in Asia on Tuesday as data on prices trends in China was mixed and investors looked ahead to U.S. stockpiles data.

Producer prices year-on-year for February fell 4.8%, more than the 4.3% decline expected. But consumer prices year-on-year for the same month rose 1.4%, faster than the 0.9% gain expected.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, WTI crude oil for April delivery rose 0.62% to $50.31 a barrel. Prices rebounded in U.S. afternoon trading after falling below $49.30 a barrel earlier.

Investors are looking ahead to U.S. industry figures from the American Petroleum Institute for crude and refined product stockpiles last week to be announced later Tuesday. On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Energy will release its own, more closely watched, figures on the same.

Overnight, oil prices were mixed on Monday, as traders reacted to reports of increasing U.S. supply levels and comments from Opec's general secretary on rising global consumption.

Last week supply inventories at the Cushing Oil Hub in Oklahoma rose by 1.7 million barrels, according to a report released Monday by data service Genscape, Inc.

The report comes days after the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in its weekly report that inventories at Cushing reached a level of 49.2 million barrels, a 53% increase from the weekly level at this time last year.

Reports have indicated that supply levels at Cushing, the nation's largest hub for WTI crude oil storage, are less than 3 million barrels below a record-high.

If inventories grow at its current rate, it has been estimated by analysts that Cushing could reach full capacity by the middle of next month. Once Cushing reaches full capacity, the price of WTI crude could plunge even further.

In addition, in a note to commodities investors on Sunday, Goldman Sachs (NYSE:NYSE:GS) used a U-shaped model to predict price drops with light sweet Texas intermediate on a short-term basis.

Oil analysts at Goldman Sachs, believe WTI set a short-term price target of $40 a barrel for WTI crude futures – down by roughly $10 from its current level. For long-term price targets into 2016, Goldman Sachs predicted that oil futures could rise to $65 a barrel.

On the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), brent oil fell 2.03% or 1.21 to $58.52 a barrel for April delivery on Monday.

Brent prices fell following comments from Opec general secretary Abdalla El-Badri that demand could increase for the second half of the year as supply is trimmed. Opec forecasts that daily consumption of oil will increase to 1.2 million barrels a day in 2015, up from a slower than expected amount of 1.0 million barrels last year.

Oil prices are down more than 50% from last June.