Oil prices rose on Tuesday, and remained in a narrow trading range as investors await the outcome of this weekend’s OPEC+ meeting
Brent rose 31 cents, or 0.4%, to $72.14 a barrel by 0704 GMT after falling 1 cent in the previous session. WTI rose 26 cents, or 0.4%, to $68.36 after gaining 10 cents on Monday.
At the December 5 meeting, sources at the group said it would extend the latest round of output cuts until the end of the first quarter.
Given increasing compliance with the cuts from Russia, Kazakhstan, and Iraq, lower Brent prices, and indications in press reports, it is assumed that the OPEC+ output cuts will be extended until April.
OPEC+ accounts for about half of the world’s oil production and aims to lift the cuts in the first quarter of 2025. However, the oversupply outlook has weighed on prices.
For now, there is no option but to postpone it, and it is likely to last only a month or less as participating countries are under great pressure to increase production.
Amid the lack of bullish catalysts and weak demand, oil prices are expected to trade in a limited range with a downward trend.
Researchers and analysts said the consumption outlook remains weak and the gap between demand.
According to traders, Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest exporter, is expected to lower crude prices for Asian buyers to the lowest level in at least four years.
Concerns that the Fed may not cut interest rates at its December meeting also restrained oil prices and offset positive signals from China, with the purchasing managers’ index in China hitting a seven-month peak in November.
Oil prices on both sides of the Atlantic fell more than 3% last week.
U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Christopher Waller said he was inclined to support a rate cut this month, but Atlanta Fed’s President Raphael Bostic argued the Fed should still consider upcoming jobs data.
In the Middle East, Syria is in turmoil and there are mutual violations of the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
U.S. crude inventories were expected to fall last week, while gasoline and distillate inventories were likely to rise.
