Oil prices steadied this afternoon due to expectations that crude stockpiles in the US, the world's top energy consumer, would show a rise this week.
US crude slipped three cents to $71.55 a barrel, after rising nearly 13% in the previous three sessions. London Brent crude rose 40 cents to $73.95 a barrel. A rise in US reserves would indicate weaker demand for energy.
Optimism that a potential turnaround in the global economy could lift oil demand has helped send crude up from lows below $33 a barrel in December, with energy traders keeping an eye on stock markets for signs of rebound.
Energy traders were also keeping any eye on an area of thunderstorms in the Atlantic several hundred miles southwest of the Cape Verde Islands associated with a tropical wave, though the US National Hurricane Center said it had less than a 30% chance becoming a tropical storm.
Storm activity in the US Gulf of Mexico is closely monitored by traders for signs of potential disruptions to supplies of crude and natural gas offshore installations. Colorado State University today lowered its forecast for tropical storms and hurricanes in the Atlantic for 2009.
