Oil Prices Rise Ahead of The OPEC Meeting

Oil prices rose in trading on Tuesday, with investors expecting oil producers to boost supplies at Tuesday’s meeting, indicating that demand for fuel remains strong despite the spread of the Omicron mutant.

Brent crude futures rose 43 cents to $79.05 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude recovered its previous losses and rose to $76.09 a barrel. Both benchmarks rose more than 1% on Monday.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Russia, and its allies are scheduled to meet today, Tuesday, and the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee will meet at 12:00 GMT, followed by a ministerial meeting at 13:00 GMT, both via video link.

Three sources in OPEC told Reuters that the organization might stick to its plan to increase production by 400,000 barrels per day in February 2022, as it has done every month since August.