Oil prices steady ahead of Opec+ meeting

Oil prices were largely steady on Tuesday as investors expected major producers to agree to stick to their planned output increase at their meeting later in the day amid diminishing concerns over the spread of the Omicron variant of Covid-19.


Brent crude was up 22 cents, or 0.3 per cent, at $79.20 a barrel at 0939 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose by 21 cents, or 0.3 per cent, to $76.29 a barrel.


OPEC+ is expected to increase oil output for February as the group assesses only a short-lived impact on demand from the Omicron. read more


OPEC+, which groups producers from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) with others, has raised its output target each month since August by 400,000 barrels per day.