Oil prices edged up by a fraction as US markets opened, helped by a report which showed US shale output would post a monthly decline in May.
Late on Monday, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said that it expects US shale production to fall by 45,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 4.98mln next month.
If correct, the EIA predictions hint at how record crude production from the US shale boom may be slowing after oil prices halved at the end of last year.
The numbers helped WTI add nearly 2% on Tuesday to US$52.75 a barrel. Brent crude, meanwhile, edged up to US$58.
Tensions in Yemen, where top oil exporter Saudi Arabia is embroiled in a civil war, have helped prices rise.
"Geopolitical risk in oil markets remains elevated," JP Morgan analysts said in a note.
"From a fundamental perspective however, supply from the Middle East is expected to remain high, with Saudi Arabia and Iraqi production on the rise."
If prices were to rise above US$60, it would “presumably attract further buyers”, Commerzbank analysts reckon.
“That said; there is otherwise the risk of profit-taking which would put the price under pressure.”
Jason Gammel, oil analyst at Jefferies in London said producers feeling the pinch will be under pressure to sell more oil as prices rise.
“There is selling pressure on part of producers,” he said. “A lot of oil firms will look to lock in hedges and secure cash cycles.”
Gammel expects prices to stay in the 50s this year though, before moving to the mid-60s in 2016.
Some company news: Enegi Oil (LON:ENEG) has recruited the first partners to its marginal field initiative, which could revolutionise production in the North Sea.
They are Kongsberg, a Norwegian specialist in remote control worth US$2.3bn, and the ship broker Braemar.
Elsewhere, KrisEnergy (SGX:SK3) is to drill a sidetrack to its third well in the Gulf of Thailand, Rossukon-3, after it hit 124 feet of net pay.
The exploration well on block G6/48 in the Gulf of Thailand followed a successful evaluation of the Rossukon-2 and sidetrack wells in March.