Oil holds gains on OPEC expectations

Oil held on to its biggest gain in a week as investors counted down to a high-risk OPEC+ meeting on supply and assessed signs that the Fed was done raising interest rates. Global benchmark Brent was trading below $82 a barrel after rising more than 2% on Tuesday. U.S. crude was below $77 a barrel. The OPEC+ group is set to meet online on Thursday to set 2024 policy but has yet to resolve a dispute over production quotas for some African members, delegates said. Crude’s rally was supported by a weaker dollar, with the U.S. currency falling to its lowest level since August on a Bloomberg gauge. Comments from Fed policymakers including Chairman Christopher Waller suggested the central bank was ready to hold off on raising interest rates. A weaker dollar is making commodities more attractive to overseas buyers. The U.S. dollar has been pushed lower by dovish expectations, largely supported by oil prices, while “all eyes will be on whether the bloc can do more to support prices,” said Yeap Jun Rong, market strategist at IG Asia Pte in Singapore. Oil is on a back-to-back monthly decline as supplies from countries outside the Commonwealth of Petroleum Exporting Countries increase, adding pressure on the group and its allies to make deeper cuts. The International Energy Agency said earlier this month that the global crude market is on track to return to surplus next year. Meanwhile, in the U.S., the industry-funded American Petroleum Institute reported that national inventories fell by 817,000 barrels last week, according to people familiar with the figures. Inventories in Cushing’s also declined. If confirmed by government data later Wednesday, that would be the first decline in levels at both the national and key oil storage hub in six weeks.