Investing.com - Oil prices edged lower during European hours on Tuesday, after rallying sharply a day earlier, after Saudi Arabia and Iran appeared to play down expectations for any supply policy decision during Wednesday's meeting.
Saudi Arabia's Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said on Tuesday that talks among OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers in Algiers this week are consultative, casting doubt on the chances of any policy decision during the meeting.
His comments follow similar remarks from Iran's oil minister on Monday.
On the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil for December delivery shed 77 cents, or 1.61%, to $47.16 a barrel by 4:41AM ET (08:41GMT).
On Monday, London-traded Brent futures surged $1.45, or 3.12%, amid hopes global oil producers will make progress on a deal to limit production at an informal meeting tentatively scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.
OPEC members, led by Saudi Arabia and other big Middle East crude exporters, such as Iran and Iraq, will meet non-OPEC producer Russia at the International Energy Forum in Algeria.
According to market experts, chances that the meeting would yield any action to reduce the global glut appeared minimal. Instead, most believe that oil producers will continue to monitor the market and possibly postpone freeze talks to the official OPEC meeting in Vienna on November 30.
An attempt to jointly freeze production levels earlier this year failed after Saudi Arabia backed out over Iran's refusal to take part of the initiative, underscoring the difficulty for political rivals to forge consensus.
Elsewhere, crude oil for November delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange declined 74 cents, or 1.65%, to $45.20 a barrel, after rallying $1.27, or 2.61%, a day earlier.
Market players shifted their focus to weekly data from the U.S. on stockpiles of crude and refined products.
Industry group the American Petroleum Institute is due to release its weekly report at 4:30PM ET (20:30GMT) later on Tuesday. Official data from the Energy Information Administration will be released Wednesday.