Investing.com - Crude prices held weaker in Asia on Tuesday as investors assessed chances of a finalized and workable plan for a complicated output curb pact that includes OPEC and Russia and noted a stronger dollar hitting demand.
U.S. crude futures for December delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 0.12% to $50.46 a barrel. On the ICE Futures Exchange in London, the December Brent contract traded down 0.23% to $51.34 a barrel. Later on Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute will release its estimates of crude and refined product inventories in the U.S. at the end of last week. The figures are followed on Wednesday by closely-watched official data from the U.S. Department of Energy.
Overnight, U.S. oil dropped on Monday, after Iraq said it wanted to be exempt from any production freeze deal by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is set to hold a meeting on November 30 to further discuss the details of a global output freeze. Iraq is OPEC’s second-biggest producer after Saudi Arabia. Major exporter Russia has also said it favors the pact and is working with OPEC on terms for its own production freeze.
Late last month, OPEC reached an agreement to limit production to a range of 32.5 million to 33.0 million barrels per day in talks held on the sidelines of an energy conference in Algeria.
However, market analysts have been skeptical of the deal, pondering how such a plan would be implemented.
Oil prices typically weaken when the U.S. currency strengthens as the dollar-priced commodity becomes more expensive for holders of other currencies.