Oil prices eased, but were set for a sixth week of gains as progress towards novel coronavirus vaccination programmes fed hopes that demand for fuel would rebound next year

Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said that the decision by OPEC+ last week to gradually increase oil output would help Russia to fulfil its budget revenue plan and also potentially grow its sovereign wealth fund

OPEC and Russia agreed to slightly ease their deep oil output cuts from January by 500,000 barrels per day but failed to find a compromise on a broader and longer term policy for the rest of next year

OPEC and Russia have moved closer to a compromise over oil supply policy for 2021 after talks earlier this week failed to yield a decision on how to tackle weak oil demand

OPEC oil output rose for a fifth month in November, a Reuters survey found, as increased Libyan production offset full adherence by other producers to cuts agreed in an OPEC-led supply deal

OPEC+ members will consider whether to extend existing oil cuts for three to four months or to gradually increase output from January during their two days of talks

A panel of OPEC+, a group of leading oil producing countries, will hold informal online talks on Saturday prior to meetings scheduled for next week

OPEC and allies including Russia are leaning towards delaying next year’s planned increase in oil output to support the market during the second wave of COVID-19 and rising Libyan output, despite a rise in prices

US oil stockpiles climbed last week on rising gasoline inventories as lockdown measures in parts of the US to curb the virus kept a lid on fuel demand

China, the world’s top crude importer, is one of the few countries to have boosted purchases in 2020, as buyers made the most of low prices earlier this year, while fuel demand recovered from the second quarter along with the broader economy