Oil steadies as surplus moves from surplus to surplus

LONDON (Reuters) – Oil prices stabilized on Tuesday as worries over supply eased and the focus moved to increasing production and potential damage to global growth in the US-China trade dispute.

Benchmark Brent crude oil LCOc1 fell 49 cents to an intraday low of $ 71.35 in barrel, its lowest since April 17, before rebounding to around $ 72.14, up 30 cents, by 1245 GMT. Brent fell 4.6 percent on Monday.

U.S. CLc1 light crude was 10 cents at $ 68.16 a barrel. It lost 4.2 percent on Monday.

"The perception in the oil market seems to be shifting," Carsten Menke, commodity research badyst at Swiss private bank Julius Baer, ​​said.

"Fears of shortages, which is the subject of high prices."

Oil prices have fallen by almost 10 percent over the last week in Libya have been reopened and exported from other countries.

Production from seven major U.S. shale oil formations is expected to rise by 143,000 barrels per day (bpd) to a record 7.47 million bpd in August, the US Energy Information Administration said on Monday.

Output is expected to rise in all seven formations. All regions except for Appalachia are at a high.

Also involved in the trading of large blocks, particularly, China, could demand economic activity and hence squeeze oil demand.

China this week reported a weakening growth for the second quarter and weakest expansion in the industry in June in two years, suggesting a further softening in business conditions in coming months as trade pressures build.

Beijing's state planning agency said it was still confident of hitting its economic growth target of 6.5 percent this year, despite views it has bumpy second-half as the trade row with Washington intensified.

Goldman Sachs said it expects price volatility to remain elevated, keeping Brent in a $ 70- $ 80 per barrel range in the short term.

"Supply shifts, alongside the ongoing surge in Saudi production, create the risk that the oil market moves into surplus" in the third quarter, the report said.

But supply disruptions continues elsewhere.

Although Libyan ports are reopening, Sharara oilfield output was at least 160,000 barrels per day (bpd), the National Oil Corporation said.