LONDON: Oil markets stabilised on Thursday as expectations that OPEC would extend production limits balanced rising US crude production and inventories. Brent crude oil LCOc1 was up 20 cents a barrel at $62.07 by 08:30 GMT. US light crude was 10 cents higher at $55.43 a barrel.
Global oil markets are looking ahead to a meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries in Vienna on November 30 which is expected to decide to extend limits on crude production to help tighten supply.
OPEC and other big producers including Russia agreed a year ago to cut crude output by 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) to try to bolster prices.
That deal is due to expire at the end of March 2018 but ministers have signalled that they are likely to extend the agreement, possibly until the end of next year. “OPEC, led by Saudi ... will look to support the market,” said Shane Chanel, equities and derivatives adviser at ASR Wealth Advisers.
Oil prices have risen steadily over the last few months as the impact of supply cuts has drained inventories. Both crude benchmarks hit two-year highs last week.
Prices have slipped back in recent days, partly due to evidence that supply from the United States is rising fast, hampering OPEC’s efforts to tighten the market.
On Wednesday, the US government’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) said domestic crude inventories rose for a second week in a row, building by 1.9 million barrels in the week to November 10 to 459 million barrels. Analysts in a Reuters poll had expected a decrease of 2.2 million barrels. — Reuters
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