Oil futures edged slightly higher on Monday, buoyed by Venezuelan reports that suggest a deal to stabilize the global oil supply is imminent between nations inside and outside OPEC, according to Bloomberg MarketWatch.
October West Texas Intermediate crude added 27 cents, or 0.6%, to settle at $43.30 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
November Brent crude, the global benchmark, rose 18 cents, or 0.4%, to end trading at $45.95 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures Exchange.
Speculation about the outcome of a meeting next week in Algeria “has picked up on reports that OPEC could call an emergency meeting to ratify any agreement reached at the informal meeting,” said Colin Cieszynski, chief market strategist at CMC Markets.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro said members of OPEC and non-cartel members are nearing a deal on production.
“We had a long bilateral meeting with [Iran’s president Hassan] Rouhani. We’re close to a deal between OPEC producer countries and non-OPEC,” said Maduro.
Highly dependent on oil revenue, Venezuela’s economy has been severely hit by the slide in crude oil prices. Its government has been pushing hard for an agreement to limit global supply.
Back on the New York Mercantile Exchange, October natural gas fell 1.4 cents, or 0.5%, to settle at $2.934 per million British thermal units.