Oil rises ahead of US inventory data

Global oil prices continued to rise as the US market opened on Tuesday to resume their rally, on the back of expectations that this week's US inventories data will show a sharp drop due to a halt in production in the Gulf of Mexico to avert hurricane Barry.

By 12:25 GMT, US crude rose to $59.65 per barrel from the opening level of $59.23, with a high of $59.84 and a low of $59.21.

Brent crude rose to $66.50 per barrel from the opening of $66.30, and recorded a high of $66.82, and a low of $66.26.

US crude lost 1.8% in yesterday, with correction from a seven-week high of $60.92 per barrel, and Brent fell by 1.1%.

In the United States, this week's energy data is expected to show a sharp decline in commercial crude inventories, due to a halt in production in the Gulf of Mexico to avoid hurricane Bari.

The American Petroleum Institute will release preliminary data on US crude inventories today, amid expectations of a decline in inventories for the fifth week in a row, and official data will be released by the US Energy Information Administration on Wednesday.

Oil companies operating in the Gulf of Mexico have cut more than one million barrels per day of production, equivalent to 53% of the region's production due to hurricane "Barry".

The Gulf of Mexico produces about 17 percent of US crude oil production, which is currently at 12.3 million barrels per day, as the United States, the world's largest oil producer.

The oil companies resumed production on Monday after the hurricane, but so far the operations have not been fully operational and expected to be reached over the coming days of the week.