Oil prices rose more than 1 per cent on Thursday ahead of an OPEC meeting in which Saudi Arabia is expected to push the group and its allies including Russia to agree to further output cuts to support the market.
Prices were also supported by a lower-than-expected rise in crude oil inventories in the United States, alleviating some concerns of oversupply in the world’s biggest oil consumer. Brent crude rose by 67 cents, or 1.3 per cent, to $51.80 per barrel by 0436 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was up by 55 cents, or 1.2 per cent, at $47.33 per barrel.
“Crude oil prices were boosted by a broad positive sentiment overnight, and a much lower-than-expected … crude oil inventory data,” said Margaret Yang, a market analyst at CMC Markets.
