Investing.com - Crude futures rose on Wednesday on talk OPEC cartel countries may take action to prevent oil prices from falling further though a sluggish U.S. inventory report watered down gains.
In the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate crude futures for delivery in January traded up 0.32% at $74.88 a barrel during U.S. trading, up from a session low of $73.92 a barrel and off a high of $75.25 a barrel.
The January contract settled down 1.35% at $74.64 a barrel on Tuesday.
Support for the commodity was seen at $73.22 a barrel, last Friday's low, and resistance at $76.48 a barrel, Tuesday's low.
Oil prices rose on Wednesday on reports that Libya may favor cutting output to shore up prices at OPEC's Nov. 27 meeting.
Samir Kamal, Libya's OPEC governor, told Reuters earlier OPEC could agree to take small steps to trim global supply, which drew applause in energy market.
Oil ministers from Iran, Libya, Venezuela, Ecuador and Algeria have asked for action to prevent further price declines, while Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have resisted calls to lower production.
Markets are speculating that a Saudi-backed willingness to let prices slide will prompt U.S. shale producers to halt operations as a result, as such production costs more than traditional drilling.
Once U.S. shale producers table their operations for profitability reason, prices would presumably rise as the global economy absorbs excess supply.
A bearish U.S. stockpile report capped gains.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that U.S. crude oil inventories rose by 2.6 million barrels in the week ending Nov. 14, surpassing expectations for a decline of 0.8 million barrels.
Total U.S. crude oil inventories stood at 381.1 million barrels as of last week.
The report also showed that total motor gasoline inventories increased by 1.0 million barrels, more than forecasts for a gain of 0.6 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles fell by 2.1 million barrels.
Separately, on the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil futures for January delivery were up 0.72% at US$79.04 a barrel, while the spread between Brent and U.S. crude contracts stood at $4.16.