Oil prices gain as OPEC meeting looms

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - Crude oil prices were up on Wednesday as the upcoming meeting between OPEC and its allies, known as OPEC+, give hope to investors of potential support to prices.

International benchmark Brent crude was trading at $32.32 per barrel at 0620 GMT for a 1.4% increase after it closed Tuesday at $31.87 a barrel.

American benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was at $24.72 a barrel at the same time for a 4.6% gain after ending the previous day at $23.63 per barrel.

The oil producing member countries of OPEC+ will hold a teleconference on Thursday to discuss the low price environment and the supply-demand balance in the global oil market.

Due to the rapid spread of coronavirus, or the COVID-19 disease, weak economic activity around the world has lowered global oil demand, increasing the glut of supply in the market.

Saudi Arabia-led OPEC and Russia-spearheaded non-OPEC failed on March 6 to lower their collective output, causing a massive plummet in prices, which fell on March 30 to their lowest level since 2002.

The OPEC+ group is estimated on Thursday to lower their collective oil production level by between 10-15 million barrels per day in order to trim some of the oversupply.