Oil prices jump as Saudi warns OPEC could limit output

Following Saudi Arabia's warning that OPEC could decrease supply to reverse the recent slide in oil futures, oil prices inch higher on Tuesday.

Brent crude futures rose 32 cents to $96.80 a barrel as of 00:04 GMT on Tuesday, following a tumultuous Monday in which they fell more than $4 per barrel before recovering to trade near flat.

Futures on U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 37 cents to $90.73 a barrel at 00:04 GMT.

This month, the benchmarks are between 12% and 8% lower.

Saudi Arabia, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries' (OPEC) leader, announced on Monday that OPEC is prepared to reduce production to correct the recent oil price decline caused by poor futures market liquidity and macroeconomic concerns, which have ignored the extremely tight physical crude supply.

According to the Saudi state news agency SPA, Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman told Bloomberg that OPEC+ has the means and flexibility to address difficulties.

Damage to a pipeline system moving oil from Kazakhstan to Russia has created more interruptions to Europe's energy supplies, intensifying concerns about a potential gas supply drop.

Monday, Iran accused the United States of stalling in efforts to resuscitate the 2015 nuclear agreement. This charge was denied by the White House, which stated that an agreement is closer than it was two weeks ago due to apparent Iranian flexibility.

Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. ET, market participants expected the release of industry data regarding U.S. supplies. According to a preliminary Reuters poll published on Monday, crude oil and gasoline inventories in the U.S. likely decreased last week, although distillate inventories likely increased.