OPEC + ' s Oil Prices Rise The Deduction is Only a Matter of Time

OPEC + ' s Oil Prices Rise The Deduction is Only a Matter of Time

Oil prices rose on Thursday on expectations that hurdles would be overcome at a meeting of the world's leading producers that would prevent a deal to cut production in response to the global slump later in the day. Brent crude LCOc1 futures are trading at $ 34.06, up 3.7% or $ 1.22 per barrel as of 0902 GMT, after reaching $ 34.08 at the start of the session. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 futures rose 4.8 percent, or 1.2 percent, to $ 26.29 per barrel after riding a session high of $ 26.67 per barrel. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies including Russia - a group known as OPEC + will hold a video conference at about 1400 GMT on Thursday. Russia is ready to reduce its production by 1.6 million bpd, and Algeria's energy minister has said he expects a productive meeting. Such a large reduction would be far greater than any OPEC had previously agreed, but Russia insisted that this would only reduce production if the US joined the deal. Thursday's March meeting will need to be much more successful than the OPEC + meeting in March when Saudi Arabia and Russia pledged to bring cheap oil to the market because they did not agree to extend smaller supply cuts. U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that U.S. oil producers are already cutting production and warned that they have many options if Saudi Arabia and Russia fail to reach a deal. The baseline of reference for any cuts was still unclear. Following the OPEC + meeting, energy ministers from the group of 20 major economies will convene.