Foreign Desk Report
LONDON: Oil prices rose on Thursday on expectations the world’s leading crude producers will at a meeting later in the day overcome obstacles that have so far prevented a deal to cut output in response to a collapse in global demand. Brent crude LCOc1 futures were up 3.9%, or $1.28, at $34.12 a barrel by 1340 GMT after hitting a high of $34.83 early in the session.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 futures were up 5.9%, or $1.48, at $26.57 a barrel, after earlier hitting a session high of $27.46 a barrel. Both contracts retraced some of their earlier gains after a Kremlin spokesman said Russian President Vladimir Putin had no plans as of Thursday to discuss oil markets with U.S. President Donald Trump and Saudi Arabia’s leadership.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies including Russia – a group known as OPEC+ – are set to hold a video conference of oil and energy ministers on Thursday at about 1400 GMT. Hopes of a deal to cut 10 million to 15 million barrels per day (bpd) rose after reports that Russia was ready to reduce its output by 1.6 million bpd and Algeria’s energy minister said he expected a fruitful meeting.
