2017.11.2202:25:00UTC+00Oil Prices Increase on Ongoing Cuts of Canadian Crude

Oil prices were higher on Wednesday as ongoing reductions of piped Canadian crude to the United States contributed to declining U.S. crude inventories. Expectations of an extended OPEC-led production cut also provided support.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures stood at $57.68 per barrel, higher by 1.5 percent from their last settlement.

Brent crude futures, the international benchmark for oil prices, were at $62.97 per barrel, higher by 0.6 percent.

According to TransCanada Corp, it will reduce deliveries by almost 85 percent on its 590,000-barrel-per-day Keystone crude pipeline through to the end of November.

Markets have been supported by an effort led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to control output in a bid to end a global supply overhang. The deal to reduce production is set to expire in March, but OPEC will meet on Nov. 30 in Vienna to discuss the outlook for the policy.

“Oil markets in 2018 will be balanced on the back of extended ... production cuts”, but without extended cuts, markets would be in surplus, as stated in J.P. Morgan's 2018 commodities outlook.