China May oil refinery output down 1.8 yy
Oversupply and sluggish demand remain major concerns

LONDON, June 18 Reuters Oil prices were stable on Tuesday, as traders awaited signs of a hopedfor summer demand boost to prop up prices even as strong supply threatens to blunt gains.

Benchmark Brent crude futures were down 2 cents to 84.23 per barrel at 1231 GMT after climbing in the previous session. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures , which also rose on Monday, were up 3 cents to 80.36 a barrel.

Both benchmarks gained around 2 on Monday, closing at their highest levels since April. Brent has clambered back from an earlyJune close of 77.52, though remains off its 90 peaks in midApril.

The oil market shifted its focus back to fundamentals, which have been soft for some time, said BoFA commodity and derivatives strategist Francisco Blanch in a note, adding that global crude oil inventories and refined product storage in the United States and Singapore, among other places, was higher.

Meanwhile, global oil demand growth slowed to 890,000 barrels per day year on year in the first quarter, and data suggests consumption growth likely slowed further in the second quarter, he said in the note.

But U.S. crude inventories are expected to have fallen by 2.3 million barrels in the week to June 14, according to analysts polled by Reuters.

The critical data set this week, at least for us, will be the U.S. oil inventory data as it could confirm or refute the developing…