Oil steadied after a three-day drop on signs OPEC+ may deepen production cuts when it holds its postponed meeting on Thursday.
Global benchmark Brent traded near $81 a barrel after falling 2.3% over the last three sessions, while West Texas Intermediate was below $76. Alliance heavyweights Saudi Arabia and Russia are still expected to extend output curbs of just over a million barrels a day on Thursday, but there’s now a growing view the group will unveil measures to tighten oil markets.
The alliance had to push back its ministerial meeting, which will now be online instead of in person, by four days to Nov. 30 because Angola and Nigeria refused to accept lower output quotas, pressed on them by the group’s leaders. Still, talks are continuing and an agreement between members looks within reach, according to officials.
Increased supply from non-OPEC+ countries and the fading of the Israel-Hamas war risk premium have seen Brent drop by almost a fifth from a high in late September. The International Energy Agency forecast earlier this month that the market would tip back into surplus next year.
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