Crude Oil Futures Hold Steady

Oil futures were trading higher early Tuesday at the New York Mercantile Exchange, assisted by U.S. dollar weakness and concerns that a Nigerian labor dispute could hinder global crude supplies.

However, West Texas crude for August delivery recently retraced the bulk of its gains and was ahead by 17 cents at $136.91 a barrel. Brent crude was 55 cents higher at $136.46 a barrel.

Reformulated gasoline was fractionally higher at $3.46 a gallon, and heating oil was up 3 cents at $3.82 a gallon. Near-term natural gas was down 14 cents at $13.06 per million British thermal units.

The dollar was losing ground against most major currencies, and the U.S. Dollar Index was off 0.5% at 73.09. The index measures the value of the greenback against a basket of international currencies.

Oil tends to rise when the value of the dollar falls because oil is traded in U.S. dollars in international markets.

In Nigeria, a labor strike against Chevron(CVX Quote - Cramer on CVX - Stock Picks) is threatening to further reduce oil throughput from the country. Labor strikes and militant attacks have already reduced Nigerian throughput capacity by as much as 500,000 barrels a day.

Meanwhile, energy stocks were largely heading south along with broader equity indices. BP (BP Quote - Cramer on BP - Stock Picks) was 1% lower at $67.43, ConocoPhillips (COP Quote - Cramer on COP - Stock Picks) was losing 0.8% at $94.78, and Exxon Mobil(XOM Quote - Cramer on XOM - Stock Picks) was falling 0.9% at $86.90.

Among exploration and production stocks, Apache(APA Quote - Cramer on APA - Stock Picks) was falling 2.1% at $140.75, and Anadarko Petroleum (APC Quote - Cramer on APC - Stock Picks) was down 2.3% at $76.22.

The U.S. Oil(USO Quote - Cramer on USO - Stock Picks) ETF, which tends to closely track the value of WTI contracts on the Nymex, was up fractionally at $111.23.