Oil edges higher on Mideast tension, likely crude stocks drawdown

* U.S. crude stockpiles seen down for third week - Reuters
poll
* Yemen's Houthis say they attacked Saudi Aramco (SE:2222) facilities
* Coming up: API inventory data at 2030 GMT

By Jessica Jaganathan
SINGAPORE, April 13 (Reuters) - Oil prices edged higher on
Tuesday on tensions in the Middle East after the Yemen-based
Houthi movement said it fired missiles on Saudi oil sites and on
an expected drawdown in crude oil inventory in the United
States.
Still, crude prices have remained rangebound in the past
three weeks, as growing expectations of surging economic
activity in the U.S. and China are balanced by the slow rate of
vaccinations in Europe and anticipation of additional supply of
oil from Iran in the coming months.
Brent crude oil futures LCOc1 was up 9 cents, or 0.1%, at
$63.37 a barrel by 0055 GMT while U.S. crude oil futures CLc1
gained 11 cents, or 0.2%, to $59.81 a barrel.
"Crude oil prices struggled to break out of the recent
trading range amid an uncertain outlook for the market," ANZ
Research analysts said in a note.
U.S. crude oil stockpiles were expected to have dropped last
week for a third straight week, while distillate and gasoline
inventories likely grew, a preliminary Reuters poll showed on
Monday.
The poll was conducted ahead of reports from the American
Petroleum Institute, an industry group, due for release later on
Tuesday and the Energy Information Administration (EIA), the
statistical arm of the U.S. Department of Energy, on Wednesday.
Still, U.S. oil output from seven major shale formations is
expected to rise for a third straight month, climbing by about
13,000 barrels per day (bpd) in May to 7.61 million bpd, the
U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Monday.

Supporting prices, Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi movement said
on Monday it had fired 17 drones and two ballistic missiles at
targets in Saudi Arabia, including Saudi Aramco facilities in
Jubail and Jeddah.
There was no immediate Saudi confirmation. Saudi Aramco, the
state oil firm, said when contacted by Reuters that it would
respond at the earliest opportunity.
"However, these attacks have rarely caused any disruption to
supply, and prices subsequently gave back most of the gains over
the course of the session," ANZ analysts said.