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Prices were hit by a surprise build in oil inventories in the
United States and as OPEC and its allies created uncertainty
with a two-day delay to a formal meeting to decide whether to
increase production in January.
Brent crude oil futures were down 13 cents, or 0.3%, at $47.29 a
barrel by 1203 GMT, while West Texas Intermediate crude was down
21 cents, or 0.5%, at $44.34.
Industry data from the American Petroleum Institute showed U.S.
crude inventories rose by 4.1 million barrels last week,
compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a
draw of 2.4 million barrels.
"Traders would not take huge gambles today, as they are waiting
for the final verdict of Thursday’s OPEC+ meeting", said Rystad
Energy's head of oil markets, Bjornar Tonhaugen.
"When stakes are so high, it is dangerous to move prices much
ahead".
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC),
Russia and other allies, a group known as OPEC+, postponed talks
on next year's oil output policy to Thursday from Tuesday,
according to sources.
The group this year imposed production cuts of 7.7 million
barrels per day (bpd) as the coronavirus pandemic hit fuel
demand.
It had been widely expected to roll those reductions over into
January-March 2021 amid spikes in COVID-19 cases.
But the United Arab Emirates (UAE) said this week that even
though it could support a rollover, it would struggle to
continue with the same deep output reductions into 2021.
Britain on Wednesday became the first western country to approve
a COVID-19 vaccine, jumping ahead of the United States and the
European Union in what may be a first step toward a return to
normal life and boost oil consumption.
(Reporting by Noah Browning and Jessica Jaganathan; Editing by
Ana Nicolaci da Costa, John Stonestreet and Alexander Smith)
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