Crude oil prices gained further on Wednesday amidst anxiety ahead of a meeting of OPEC+ countries on Thursday. Traders' betting on larger supply cuts and market disruptions, as well as a storm in the Black Sea region that disrupted oil supply weighed on sentiment, lifting prices. Dovish comments from Fed officials as well as a decline in inventories in the U.S. also bolstered a bullish sentiment for crude oil prices.
Data released by the American Petroleum Institute had on Tuesday shown a decline of 0.8 million barrels in crude oil inventories during the week ended November 24, versus an addition of more than 9 million barrels in the previous week. Markets had expected inventories to decline by close to 2 million barrels.
Official data for the same period by the U.S. Energy Information Administration due later in the day is expected to show a reduction of 0.93 million barrels, as compared with the addition of 8.7 million barrels in the previous week.
Brent Oil Futures for February settlement is currently trading at $82.75, having gained 1.6 percent from the previous close of $81.47. The day's trading ranged between $82.76 and $81.32, versus the 52-week trading that ranged between $70.06 and $97.69.
West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil Futures for January settlement also added 1.8 percent from the previous close of $76.41 to trade at $77.77. Prices ranged between a high of $77.79 and a low of $76.37. The 52-week trading range was between $63.64 and $95.03.
