Global crude oil news

A day after Saudi Arabia disputed a media report that it was considering an increase in oil supply with OPEC and its allies, oil prices modestly increased in early Asian trade on Tuesday.

Brent crude futures were up 17 cents, or 0.2%, at $87.62. Tuesday marked the start of trading for January West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures, which saw a 7-cent or 0.1% increase to $80.11 a barrel.

After the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that an increase of up to 500,000 barrels per day will be taken into consideration at the OPEC+ meeting on December 4, both benchmarks had fallen by more than $5 a barrel the previous session.

Prices swiftly and fully recovered when Saudi Arabia’s energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman denied the WSJ report and claimed the country is sticking to output cuts and not discussing a future rise in oil production with other OPEC oil producers.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its Allies (OPEC+) recently lowered their production goals, and this month Saudi Arabia, the de facto leader, was quoted as saying that the group will continue to be cautious about oil production due to the uncertainty surrounding the world economy.

WTI switched into contango last week, showing lessening supply fears, while the front-month Brent crude futures gap shrunk considerably.

Rising As the government battles outbreaks that are approaching April peaks nationally, COVID-19 infections in China limited market advances.

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