Oil Futures Rally on Wednesday Ahead of OPEC Meeting

01512_PumpJack3

Mixed news of rising oil inventories coupled with unconfirmed reports that crude production restrictions may be a discussion item at Thursday’s biannual OPEC meeting in Austria sent oil futures rallying on Wednesday afternoon despite falling below $48 a barrel, according to Bloomberg MarketWatch.

July West Texas Intermediate crude fell 9 cents, or 0.2%, to end trade at $49.01 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier in the day, oil futures reached as low as $47.75 a barrel.

August Brent crude, the global benchmark, slid 17 cents, or 0.3%, to settled at $49.72 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures Exchange.

Trading fell earlier on Wednesday upon the news that U.S. oil inventories gained 2.4 million barrels for the week ended May 27, according to a report issued by the American Petroleum Institute. The U.S. Energy Information Administration report will be released on Thursday.

OPEC members held a conference before Thursday’s meeting in Vienna in order to discuss a plan to limit production. The plan is likely to cause friction with Iran.

Meanwhile, July natural gas settled at $2.381 per million British thermal units, up 9.3 cents, or 4.1%. Prices rallied 5.5% a day earlier as warmer weather forecasts lifted cooling demand prospects for the fuel.