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 Brent crude oil futures were up 27 cents at $45.79 per barrel at
1146 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures were up 7
cents at $44.73 a barrel.
Royal Dutch Shell's Nigerian unit, Shell Petroleum Development Co (SPDC),
said it had declared force majeure on Bonny Light exports following
the closure of the Nembe Creek Trunk line (NCTL) for repairs after a
leak.
This disruption to output will likely push Nigeria's production to
its lowest in more than two decades, and follows a force majeure on
the Forcados crude oil grade which is likely to last until June.
Production declines and disruptions in North America, Latin America,
Asia, and elsewhere in Africa have also acted as a support to prices
this week.
The latest developments in Nigeria reversed a slight fall in prices
earlier in the day after oil sands production in Canada restarted
after forced closures due to the wildfires.
Oil sands companies around the Canadian energy hub of Fort McMurray
began to restart operations on Tuesday after an out-of-control
wildfire forced a week-long shutdown. Provincial and industry
officials said production in much of the region should ramp up soon.
The fires in Canada's oil sands field region have knocked out around
1.5 million barrels of daily crude production, leading to a
significant tightening of global markets.
But a growing glut is back in the spotlight.
Record-high inventories especially in the United States also acted
as a drag on prices.
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Industry group American Petroleum Institute (API) said on Tuesday
that U.S. crude inventories rose by 3.45 million barrels to 543.1
million barrels during the week ended May 6, enough to meet global
crude demand for almost a week.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration will release official
weekly inventory data at 1430 GMT. Analysts polled by Reuters expect
the EIA to report U.S. crude stockpiles likely rose for the fifth
consecutive week.
In a sign of a fight for market share, Iran has set its June
official selling prices (OSPs) for heavier crude grades it sells to
Asia at the biggest discounts to Saudi and Iraqi oil since
2007-2008.
Iran on Tuesday set the June OSP for Iranian Heavy crude at $1.60 a
barrel below the Oman/Dubai average in the latest sign that
producers especially in the Middle East are willing to accept low
prices in return for market share.
(Additional reporting by Henning Gloystein in Singapore; editing by
Susan Thomas)
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