Oil Price Closes Higher At $45.95/barrel on Possible OPEC Deal

 Oil prices edged higher on Monday, September 19, buoyed by Venezuela’s revelation of a possible deal to stabilise the global oil supply between the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC and non-members of the cartel.

October West Texas Intermediate crude CLV6, -0.51% tacked on 27 cents, or 0.6%, to settle at $43.30 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.  November Brent crude LCOX6, -0.33% on London’s ICE Futures exchange rose 18 cents, or 0.4%, to $45.95 a barrel.

Crude prices also soared on reports that military conflict in Libya had affected the African country’s oil exports over the weekend.Speculation about what could come out of the side meeting between big producers at a coming conference in Algeria next week “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, MarketWatch reports.

“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,” he told a news conference Sunday at the end of a summit of the Non-Aligned Movement, according to media reports.

Venezuela’s economy, highly dependent on oil revenue, has been severely hit by the slide in crude oil prices, and its government has been pushing hard for an agreement to limit global supply.

However, several key members have dashed hopes for an agreement at the Algeria meeting. Cartel chief Mohammed Barkindo said late Saturday that no decision on oil production will be made next week as it is an informal meeting and “not a decision-making meeting.”

Barkindo said OPEC would try to reach a consensus and then could call an emergency meeting to make an actual decision, but only on the condition that all members reach an agreement.