2019.07.2315:10:00UTC+00Crude Oil Futures End Higher On Geopolitical Tensions

Crude oil futures settled higher on Tuesday, amid continued worries about tensions in the Middle East.

Traders were also looking ahead to the weekly inventory data from Energy Information Administration and the American Petroleum Institute and to the resumption of U.S.-China trade negotiations.

West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended up $0.55, or about 1%, at $56.77 a barrel.

Traders also took note of a downward revision in global growth forecast by the International Monetary Fund. The IMF cut its global growth forecast for the year to 3.2% and warned that further U.S.-China tariffs or a disorderly exit for Britain from the European Union could weaken investment and disrupt supply chains.

Amid the ongoing tensions in the Middle East, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has pledged to keep global markets adequately supplied in the event of a disruption.

The IEA said that the oil market is currently well supplied, with oil production exceeding demand in the first half of 2019, pushing up global stocks by 900,000 barrels per day.

The head of Iran's navy, Rear Admiral Hossein Khanzadi, reportedly said today that Tehran is observing all U.S. ships in the Gulf region and keeps an archive of their movements.

"We observe all enemy ships, particularly [those of] America, point by point from their origin until the moment they enter the region," Khanzadi said.

Elsewhere, the United States has slapped sanctions on a Chinese company for importing Iranian crude in violation of U.S. restrictions on Iran's oil industry.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the sanctions are "part of our maximum pressure campaign" on Iran.