Calm trend in oil

Oil prices settled after two days of declines as the worst of the Beryl storm passed ahead of Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s monetary policy report. Brent crude traded below $86 a barrel after losing nearly 2% in the previous two sessions, while U.S. crude was near $82. Recovery efforts were underway in Texas as the Beryl storm wound its way across the U.S. mainland, damaging infrastructure such as the Port of Houston and the Explorer Pipeline. About 85% of Houston lost power. Crude has been holding firm since the start of the year, helped by OPEC+’s supply cuts that have tightened the market, as well as expectations that the Fed is ready to cut interest rates. Powell is due to deliver the central bank’s semiannual report on U.S. monetary policy to the Senate Banking Committee later on Tuesday, offering investors clues about the path ahead for borrowing costs. Prices are supported by forecasts of higher fuel consumption over the northern hemisphere summer, despite growing signs of fading optimism. As inventories rose, money managers raised their bearish forecasts for U.S. gasoline to a seven-year high. Clues to the market’s outlook will come Tuesday when the Energy Information Administration releases its Short-Term Energy Outlook.