2018.10.0215:33:00UTC+00Oil Settles Slightly Lower Ahead Of Inventory Data

A day after recording the highest settlement price in nearly four years, crude oil futures edged down marginally on Tuesday.

However, prices still hovered near four-year highs amid fears of supply shortage due to loss of Iranian oil upon implementation of U.S. sanctions from early November this year.

Meanwhile, traders were looking ahead to crude oil inventory reports. The American Petroleum Institute is scheduled to come out with its weekly oil report later in the day, while the U.S. Energy Information Administration will release its crude stockpile data for last week, at 10:30 AM ET tomorrow.

Crude oil futures for November delivery ended down $0.07, or 0.09%, at $75.23 a barrel.

On Monday, crude oil futures ended up $2,05, or 2.8%, at $75.30 a barrel, the highest settlement since November 2014.

OPEC and top non-OPEC oil producers, including Russia, recently said they were not in any hurry to step up production, after the U.S. President Donald Trump made a call to them to increase output to offset loss of Iranian oil.

It remains to be seen how the leading crude producers are going to make up for the loss of oil exports from Iran, which is the world's fourth-largest oil producer and the third-largest exporter in OPEC.

Traders are also weighing the prospects of a likely drop in oil demand amid the trade dispute between the U.S. and China, the world's two largest economies.

Some analysts are of the view that escalating tension between the U.S. and China could hurt global economic growth and significantly curb consumer purchasing power.