Oil prices were mixed on Friday, but rose for the fourth consecutive week ahead of the OPEC + meeting to be held early next week.
Brent crude January futures rose 38 cents to settle at $48.18 per barrel, while the more active February contract gained 46 cents to $48.25.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 18 cents to settle at $45.53 per barrel.
Brent rose 7.2% week on week, while WTI gained 8% weekly. Encouraging studies and news on current and potential COVID-19 vaccines raised the markets. However, while successful vaccine administration breaks the resistance between infection and travel mobility, it is likely that global oil demand reaches pre-epidemic levels earliest by mid 2020.
It is hoped that allies, including OPEC and Russia, will tend to delay the planned oil production increase next year.
According to sources, OPEC + ministers will hold informal online meetings on Sunday, the day after expected. The committee will officially meet starting by Monday, and the market expects prices to see a limited increase.
Increased Libyan production also contributes to concerns over excess supply in the market. OPEC member, which is exempt from oil cuts, has been causing over 1.1 million barrels of supply surplus per day since the beginning of September.
