Brent Steady Below $93, Helped By Weaker Dollar

Brent crude oil was steady below $93 on Tuesday morning after oversupply concerns took the commodity to its lowest in level in more than a year on Monday. The commodity traded at $92.58 at 8:51 GMT on Tuesday, helped by a weaker US dollar.

Oil prices have suffered recently as some of the world’s largest consumers struggle to get their economies back on track and supply outpaces demand. On Tuesday, Germany released disappointing industrial production data showing that the nation’s factory output dropped 4 percent in August. The figure was far below analysts’ expectations and added to growing pressure on the European Central Bank to ease further.

US oil production has been a large contributor to growing global supplies, CNBC reported that US crude output rose by 3 million barrels per day over the past three years. However slow economic growth in other nations combined with the use of alternative fuels has cut down on demand.

Moving forward investors will be waiting for data from the American Petroleum Institute and the Energy Information Administration for a better picture of US oil appetite. Analysts are expecting the figures to show that crude stocks increased to 358 million barrels last week, a 1.4 million barrel jump.

Geopolitical factors remain a worry for markets, though oil has been largely unresponsive to the current conflict in the Middle East. Despite US-led efforts to stem Islamic militants’ advances into Syria, the group pushed forward into a Kurdish Syrian border town this week, causing thousands to flee across the border to Turkey. The militants’ proximity to Turkey has many worried that the nation will soon be dragged in to the conflict.