Oil prices climb ahead of OPEC meeting to discuss supply cuts - Reuters

Oil prices climb ahead of OPEC meeting to discuss supply cuts - Reuters:

Oil prices climbed higher 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 LCOc1 rose by 46 cents, or 0.9%, to $51.58 per barrel by 0734 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) CLc1 was up by 37 cents, or 0.8%, at $47.15 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.