Oil prices rose on Thursday after US petroleum product’s inventories declined, and contributed to the bull market prior to the meeting to discuss future output strategies between OPEC producers and their allies.
Brent crude LCOc1 futures were up 37 cents at $41.08 a barrel at 0846 GMT. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 futures rose 25 cents to $38.21 a barrel.
Both benchmarks were down about 2% earlier in the session.
Concerns about fuel demand after the increase in coronavirus cases caused Beijing to cancel flights and close schools, and US states, including Texas, Florida and California, reported sharp increases in new cases.
US crude oil inventories rose a record for the second consecutive week, but US government data saw a drop in gasoline and distilled product inventories containing higher demand at diesel and heating oil.
US crude oil inventories rose a record for the second consecutive week, but US government data saw a drop in gasoline and distilled product inventories containing higher demand with diesel and heating oil.
The group known as OPEC +, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies are expected to hold an online meeting today to discuss the future of 9.7 million barrels (bpd) production cuts.
Two OPEC + sources said on Wednesday that OPEC + ‘s compliance with crude production cut commitments in May was 87%.
Iraq and Kazakhstan are expected to submit their compensation plans for production cuts and overproduction to the meeting of the OPEC + ministry committee on Thursday.
OPEC warned that the market will yield surplus in the second half of 2020 despite the increasing demand.
