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Brent crude was down 1 cent at $47.87 a barrel by 1115 GMT and
West Texas Intermediate was down 9 cents at $45.25.
Both contracts have surged around 27% in November, pushed up by
hopes that COVID-19 vaccines would boost the global economy and
fuel demand, and aided by expectations that oil producers would
keep a tight rein on output amid a new wave of the virus.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia
and other allies, a group known as OPEC+, delayed talks on next
year's output policy to Thursday from Tuesday, as the main
players had yet to agree, sources said.
"It is not entirely clear whether it is good news -- the will is
there to come up with a solution -- or bad -- one step closer to
a fall-out -- but the market is not panicking just yet," PVM
analysts said.
The group was due to ease current production cuts by 2 million
barrels per day (bpd) from January.
With demand still weak, OPEC+ has been considering extending
current cuts into the first months of 2021, a position backed by
de facto OPEC leader Saudi Arabia, sources say. Russia,
meanwhile, backs a gradual increase.
"The group will probably find some face-saving compromise, with
a short extension being the most likely outcome followed by a
phased production return," said Helima Croft at Royal Bank of
Canada.
"Nonetheless this latest fracas does not bode well for
collective cohesion in 2021 as vaccine optimism abounds and
producers anticipate a strong recovery," Croft added.
A Reuters poll of 40 economists and analysts forecast Brent
would average $49.35 a barrel next year.
For a graphic on Brent and WTI price forecast for 2021:
https://graphics.reuters.com/OIL-PRICES/azgvozdjopd/chart.png
(Additional reporting by Aaron Sheldrick in Tokyo; Editing by
Andrew Cawthorne and Edmund Blair)
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