Crude oil prices rose sharply on Tuesday, lifted by Saudi Arabia's statement that OPEC+ would stick with output cuts and could likely take steps to balance the market.
Saudi Arabian Energy Minister Prince Abulaziz bin Salman had on Monday denied a report that the oil cartel was considering boosting output. He said that there was no basis for the reports and that the OPEC+ decision on October 5 to cut production would continue to remain until the end of 2023.
The development helped outweigh concerns about a likely drop in demand due to global recession and a surge in Covid-19 cases in China.
A weaker dollar contributed as well to the uptick in crude oil prices.
West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December rose to $82.36 a barrel around noon, and were up $1.07 or 1.34% at $81.11 a little while ago.
Brent crude futures were up $1.05 or about 1.2% at $88.50 a barrel.
The UAE has denied it was holding talks on changing the latest OPEC+ agreement, and Kuwait too said there were no talks on an output increase.
The OPEC and its allies including Russia, are scheduled to meet on December 4 to discuss their output strategy.
