Oil prices stabilised in early Wednesday trading as markets assessed the potential impact of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah and looked ahead to Sunday’s OPEC+ meeting.
By 2:35 pm AEDT (3:35 am GMT) brent crude futures were down $0.06 or 0.1% to US$72.75 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude edged $0.07 or 0.1% lower to $68.7 a barrel. Both benchmarks had declined on Tuesday after Israel confirmed a ceasefire deal with Lebanon's Hezbollah.
The ceasefire, brokered by the United States and France, is set to take effect Wednesday, marking an end to the cross-border conflict that erupted amid last year’s Gaza war and has since claimed thousands of lives.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu affirmed readiness to implement the agreement, vowing a strong response to any violations by Hezbollah.
Among data releases, American Petroleum Institute (API) data showed U.S. crude stocks fell by 5.94 million barrels for the week ending November 22, compared to expectations of a 250,000-barrel draw.
OPEC+ members, comprising the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies led by Russia, are set to meet on December 1 to finalise oil production policies for early 2025. The group, responsible for about half of global oil output, had initially planned gradual production hikes starting in January.
However, slowing demand in China and globally, coupled with rising non-OPEC+ production, has prompted discussions about delaying these increases.