By Christopher Johnson
LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices steadied on Tuesday as rising production in several countries balanced expectations that major exporters would extend output cuts into the second half of the year.
Benchmark Brent crude oil was unchanged at $51.52 a barrel by 0745 GMT. The futures contract hit a one-month low of $50.45 last week after the restart of two key Libyan oilfields.
U.S. light crude was down 5 cents at $48.79.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and several other key producers including Russia have agreed to cut output by 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) for the first half of 2017 to try to reduce a global glut.
OPEC and other producers meet on May 25 and are widely expected to keep output limits for the rest of the year, but prices have been weighed down by the slow pace of inventory drawdowns, with stockpiles still near record highs.
"Excess supplies are noticeable, particularly in Europe, which is curbing Brent's gains," said Kaname Gokon at brokerage Okato Shoji in Tokyo. "Overall, the demand is weakening and the inventories pile up."
Libya's National Oil Company said on Monday production had risen above 760,000 bpd to its highest since December 2014, with plans to keep boosting production.
U.S. crude output is at its highest since August 2015, while the Syncrude Canada oil sands project has started shipping crude from its Mildred Lake upgrader again after cutting production due to a fire in March.
Oil prices found some support from data showing Russian oil output fell slightly to 11 million bpd in April from 11.05 million bpd in March.
But much of the news has been negative for oil.
A private survey on Tuesday showed China's factory sector lost momentum in April, with growth slowing to its weakest pace in seven months.
U.S. crude inventories are expected to mark a fourth straight week of declines from a record high hit at the end of March, but stocks are still seen about 10 percent above year-end levels, according to Reuters calculations.
U.S. crude inventories likely fell by 2.2 million barrels last week, while refined product stockpiles were seen up, a preliminary Reuters poll showed.
The American Petroleum Institute (API), an industry group, is scheduled to release inventory data for the week to April 28 at 4:30 p.m. EDT (2030 GMT) on Tuesday.
(Additional reporting by Osamu Tsukimori in Tokyo; Editing by Dale Hudson)
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)