LONDON—Oil prices rose on Wednesday as investors turned their attention to an OPEC+ meeting to decide on output policy, while supply disruption caused by a storm in the Black Sea and lower U.S. inventories drove buying.
Brent crude futures climbed 86 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $82.54 a barrel at 1031 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained 93 cents, or 1.2 percent, at $77.34 a barrel.
Both benchmarks gained about 2 percent on Tuesday as the market anticipated the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies such as Russia (OPEC+), will extend or deepen supply cuts.
OPEC+ on Wednesday continued talks.
A severe storm in the Black Sea region has disrupted up to 2 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil exports from Kazakhstan and Russia, according to state officials and port agent data, raising the prospect of short-term supply tightness.
Kazakhstan’s largest oilfields are cutting combined daily oil output by 56 percent from Nov. 27, the Kazakh energy ministry said.
The oil market also found support from a drop in U.S. crude inventories.
Eight analysts polled by Reuters estimated on average that crude inventories fell by about 900,000 barrels in the week to Nov. 24. Weekly U.S. government data on stockpiles is due on Wednesday.
