Investing.com - U.S. oil prices edged higher on Friday, as the prospect of a potential oil production freeze deal overshadowed the strength of the U.S. dollar.
U.S. crude futures for December delivery were up 0.24% at $45.53 a barrel.
On the ICE Futures Exchange in London, the January Brent contract gained 0.37% to trade at $46.66 a barrel.
Crude prices found support after Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said on Thursday that he was optimistic that OPEC would formalize a preliminary oil output deal reached in Algeria in September.
He said talks were ongoing with Qatar's Energy Minister Mohammed al-Sada, who had invited him to Qatar to continue discussions.
His comments came after Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Wednesday that Russia is ready to support OPEC's decision on an oil output freeze and sees big chances that the oil producers' group can agree on the terms of the freeze by November 30.
He also said there was a possibility he could meet Saudi Arabia's Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih at a gas conference in Doha this week.
OPEC reached an agreement to cap output to a range of 32.5 million to 33.0 million barrels per day in talks held in Algeria in late September. However, OPEC said it won’t finalize details on individual output quotas until its next official meeting in Vienna on November 30.
But the commodity’s gains were capped as the dollar remained broadly supported after strong U.S. initial jobless claims and inflation data on Thursday fueled further expectations for a rate hike at the Fed’s December policy meeting.
In addition, Fed Chair Janet Yellen said in testimony to Congress that an increase in interest rates could be "appropriate relatively soon".