Oil prices go up in anticipation of the OPEC meeting30.11.2016

The oil markets have strengthened during the tumultuous Wednesday trading session on the eve of the OPEC meeting, where members of the cartel will try to negotiate a reduction in oil production for the sake of reducing the excess supply due to which prices have fallen more than doubled since 2014.

By 8.52 GMT, futures for Brent crude were traded at $ 46.79 per barrel, or 0.88% higher than the previous close, getting near the annual peak of $ 52.86 a barrel.

Futures for WTI brand rose 0.60% to $ 45.50 per barrel.

Traders discuss the nervousness of the markets and the possibility of sharp price fluctuations depending on the progress of OPEC meeting in Vienna.

Oil prices dropped nearly 4% in the previous session due to disagreements between Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq regarding the planned reduction of production.

Despite the controversy, many analysts still expect a certain agreement.

"We are waiting for that OPEC will come to an agreement. We believe that OPEC's willingness to reach an agreement remains firm", - said the ANZ Bank on Wednesday.

Analysts at Goldman Sachs, Barclays (LON: BARC) and ANZ forecast that prices will rise rapidly above $50 a barrel if OPEC reaches an agreement. In the absence of a deal, according to the consensus forecast, prices could come close to $ 40 per barrel.

Iran and Iraq are resisting pressure Saudi Arabia and don’t want to cut oil production, which complicates the efforts of OPEC members to reach an agreement on the limitation of oil world production at the Wednesday meeting.

The countries of the cartel, which accounts for a third of the world's oil, agreed in September to limit production at a level of 32.5-33.0 million barrels per day to support the price. To date, the volume of OPEC production is 33.24 million barrels per day.