TOKYO, Dec 24 (Reuters) - Oil prices edged higher on Tuesday
after Russia's energy minister, Alexander Novak, said
cooperation with OPEC on supporting the market would continue
and as analysts forecast a second weekly decline in U.S. crude
inventories.
Brent crude LCOc1 was up 7 cents at $66.46 a barrel by
0105 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate CLc1 was 4 cents higher
at $60.56 a barrel.
OPEC, Russia and other producers which have linked up to
curtail production and support prices will continue their
cooperation as long as it is "effective and brings results,"
Novak said in an interview on Monday. Cooperation with the Organization of the Petroleum Export
Countries (OPEC) would continue "until the market requires it,"
Novak added.
OPEC and other producers agreed in November to extend and
deepen ouput curbs in place since 2017. The reduction of output
could see as much as 2.1 million bpd taken off the market, or
about 2% of global demand. U.S. producers have only been too happy to fill in any gaps
in the market, pumping ever greater amounts of crude and
reaching a record high of around 13 milion bpd in November.
That has helped swell inventories, which have been
stubbornly resistant to drawdowns. U.S. stocks are up around 1%
this year.
Crude stocks are, however, expected to have fallen by about
1.8 million barrels last week, a second week of declines,
according to a preliminary Reuters poll. EIA/S
Still, gasoline stocks are expected to have risen for a
seventh week in a row and distillate inventories are forecast to
have gained for a fifth consecutive week.