Oil climbs as Venezuela sees output deal, Libya suffers clashes

Venezuela – which has often said a deal is close – is desperate for that as its state-led economy has been badly hit by low oil prices caused by more supply than demand.

“We had a long bilateral meeting with [Iran’s president Hassan] Rouhani”.

However, Nicolas Maduro the President of Venezuela said that OPEC members and producers that are not part of the cartel are close to reaching a deal on this matter. The price of United States benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) reached $43.69 a barrel.

Rumors of a possible deal were enough to spark a 20 percent rally in oil prices in August, ending what had become a bear market.

Oil producers are to meet Sept 26-28 on the sidelines of an industry conference in Algeria for talks on potentially freezing oil production, ahead of OPEC’s all-important policy meeting in November.

Algeria’s energy minister has said there is a consensus among OPEC and non-OPEC producers about the need to stabilise the oil market to support prices.

Late Saturday night, the Petroleum Facilities Guards retook the Sidra and Ras Lanuf oil ports in Libya.

On the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil for November delivery climbed 53 cents, or 1.16%, to trade at $46.30 a barrel by 4:50AM ET (08:50GMT).

Secretary General of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Mohamed Sanusi Barkindo expressed Sunday in Algiers “optimism” about the results expected from OPEC’s informal meeting on 27 September in Algiers.

Oil traders have closely watched the situation in Libya, where production now stands at about 300,000 barrels a day-a level that Libyan officials say they could quickly ramp up again if oil ports remained open and secure for an extended period.

Internal fighting between pro-government forces and a Libya militia that has taken control of oil ports resumed on Sunday.

Saudi Arabia and non-OPEC member Russian Federation agreed this month to cooperate in oil markets, saying they could limit future output.

OPEC is scheduled to have an informal meeting on September 28 in Algeria, but cartel chief Mohammed Barkindo said late Saturday that no decision on production will be made then.

For this week, market players will be zeroing on the Bank of Japan and the U.S. Federal Reserve.