Crude oil prices rose sharply on Monday amid expectations the Organization of the Petroleum and allies, collectively known as OPEC+ will decide to further extend their voluntary output cuts when they meet next week.
The dollar's weakness contributed as well to the jump in oil prices.
West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended higher by $1.79 or about 2.4% at $77.83 a barrel.
WTI futures for December settled at $77.70 on the expiration day, gaining $1.71 or about 2.3%.
Brent crude futures surged about 2.1% to $83.32 a barrel today.
The OPEC+ meeting is scheduled to take place on November 26th. The group has already pleged total oil output cuts of 5.16 million barrels per day.
The said cuts include additional voluntary reduction announced by Russia and Saudi Arabia.
The People Bank of China's decision to keep its loan prime rate near record lows, announcement of added liquidity into markets via reverse repos, helped ease concerns about demand outlook from the world's second largest economy.
Additonally, China's central bank and financial regulators pledged on Friday to ensure financing support for the beleaguered real estate sector.
