FX.co ★ Oil Prices Drop Ahead Of Inventory Reports

Oil prices slipped on demand worries Tuesday after seeing sharp gains in the previous two sessions.

Benchmark Brent crude futures dropped half a percent to $81.91 a barrel, while WTI crude futures were down 0.6 percent at $77.39.

Both contracts rose about 2 percent on Monday, adding to Friday's gains of around 4 percent, amid expectations the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, collectively known as OPEC+, will decide to further extend their voluntary output cuts when they meet on No. 26.

The group has already pledged total oil output cuts of 5.16 million barrels per day.

Concerns over global oil demand persist as the impact that China's economic reopening after the pandemic had on oil prices fade.

After recent signs of larger-than-expected inventory build-up, investors await weekly U.S. inventory reports from the American Petroleum Institute and the Energy Information Administration due later Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively for direction.