22.10.201919:19:00UTC+00Oil Futures Settle Sharply Higher Ahead Of Inventory Data

Crude oil prices moved up sharply on Tuesday, buoyed by reports that OPEC is likely to consider more output reductions and make an announcement regarding this in December.

Optimism about U.S.-China trade deal too contributed to oil's rise.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that China had already begun promised purchases of farm goods and that the first part of a wider commitment was almost complete.

Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said efforts to commit the agreement to paper before the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Chile next month are "on track" though some work remains to be done.

Trump's economics adviser Larry Kudlow indicated that tariffs scheduled for December could be cancelled if the talks go well.

West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures November contracts expired at $54.16 a barrel, gaining $0.85, or about 1.6%, for the session.

WTI Crude oil futures for December ended up $0.97, or about 1.8%, at $54.48 a barrel.

On Monday, WTI Crude oil futures for November ended down $0.47, or about 0.9%, at $53.31 a barrel.

It has been reported that during their meeting in December, OPEC and Russia will discuss on cutting crude outputs beyond the 1.2 million barrels per day, the cartel had agreed to in late 2018.

Already some of the oil producing countries, including Saudi Arabia, have been cutting oil outputs by more than the promised level.

Meanwhile, traders were looking ahead to the release of weekly inventory data from the American Petroleum Institute (API) and Energy Information Administration (EIA).

The API's report is due out later today, while EIA is scheduled to release its data Wednesday morning.