Oil prices extend gains ahead of U.S. inventory data

NEW YORK, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- Oil prices continued to rise Tuesday as trader awaited the official data in U.S. crude stockpiles to be released Wednesday.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration's (EIA) report on Wednesday is expected to show the country's oil stockpiles dropped for an eighth straight week, which would be the longest losing streak in multiple years.

Investors also kept a close eye on the EIA's monthly report released Tuesday, which raised its 2018 price forecasts on West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Brent crude oil prices and U.S. production.

The EIA said WTI crude oil spot prices are forecast to average 55.33 U.S. dollars per barrel in 2018 and 57.43 dollars per barrel in 2019, while Brent crude oil prices are forecast to average 59.74 U.S. dollars per barrel in 2018 and 61.43 dollars per barrel in 2019.

Meanwhile, U.S. crude oil production averaged an estimated 9.3 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2017 and is estimated to average 10.3 million b/d in 2018, which would mark the highest annual average production in U.S. history, according to the EIA.

The West Texas Intermediate for February delivery increased 1.23 U.S. dollars to settle at 62.96 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for March delivery added 1.04 dollars to close at 68.82 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange. Enditem