WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Crude oil prices are edging higher Wednesday morning, recovering from near 18-month lows, with traders building up some fresh positions.
However, with worries about global economic slowdown and U.S.-China trade disputes very likely to result in a drop in demand for crude, it is widely felt that oil prices may not see a sustained upmove in the near term.
Earlier this month, OPEC and some non-OPEC members, including Russia, decided to cut crude output by 1.2 million barrels a day from January 2019. Still, doubts over the impact of planned production cuts to rebalance the oil market and forecasts of record shale output in the U.S. are expected to weigh on oil.
Crude oil futures for February are up $0.61, or 1.43%, at $43.14 a barrel, after rising to a high of $43.41 earlier.
On Monday, crude oil futures had settled at $42.53 a barrel, losing $3.06, or 6.7% for the session.
Recently, the United Arab Emirates' energy minister Suhail al-Mazrouei said at a news conference on that OPEC and its allies would hold an extraordinary meeting if output cuts doesn't balance the market next year.
Meanwhile, markets look ahead to the weekly oil report from the American Petroleum Institute, due later in the day, and the official inventory data for the week ended December 21, from U.S. Energy Information Administration, due on Thursday.
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