Oil steady as traders await word on Opec+ cuts

Oil prices were largely unchanged in Asian trade on Wednesday as a potentially big build-up of US crude cancelled out gains triggered by likely supply cuts from the Opec+ producers group.

Brent crude futures rose 11c, or 0.1%, to $82.56 a barrel by 12.04am GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 14c, or 0.2%, to $77.91.

Both benchmarks have fallen for four consecutive weeks, and investors remained cautious ahead of Sunday’s scheduled Opec+ meeting, when the producer group may discuss deepening supply cuts due to slowing global economic growth.

On Monday, both contracts climbed about 2% after three Opec+ sources told Reuters the group, oil cartel Opec and allied producers, was set to consider additional oil supply cuts when it meets on November 26.

Opec+ is likely to extend or even deepen oil supply cuts into next year, analysts have predicted.

Even if the Opec+ nations extend their cuts into 2024, the global oil market will see a slight supply surplus in 2024, the head of the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) oil markets and industry division said on Tuesday.

US crude stocks rose by nearly 9.1-million barrels in the week ended November 17, according to market sources citing American Petroleum Institute figures on Tuesday.

Petrol inventories dropped by about 1.79-million barrels, while distillate inventories fell by about 3.5-million barrels.

US government data on stockpiles is due on Wednesday. 

Reuters