Basra's crudes drop on Tuesday

Shafaq News/ The prices of the Basra crude to Asian customers slightly dropped on Tuesday amid fluctuating oil prices in global markets.

Basra's intermediate dropped $0.29 or 0.36% to settle at $79.21.

Basra-heavy crudes also lose 0.29$ or 0.39% to reach 74.36$.

Oil prices were steady in Asian trade on Tuesday, supported by hopes a solid economic rebound in China will drive up fuel demand, offsetting worries about further U.S. interest rate hikes potentially hurting demand in the world's biggest economy.

Due to expire on Tuesday, Brent crude futures for April gained 14 cents to $82.59 per barrel by 0443 GMT. The more active May contract firmed 17 cents to $82.21 per barrel.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 21 cents to $75.89 a barrel.

Brent and WTI futures were on track for monthly losses of around 2.2% and 3.8%, respectively, with WTI likely to hit a four-month streak of declines.