2020.03.0419:21:00UTC+00Crude Oil Futures Close Lower Ahead Of OPEC Meet

Crude oil futures drifted lower on Wednesday as traders made cautious moves, looking ahead to the meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies in Vienna this week.

Data showing a smaller-than-expected increase in U.S. crude stockpiles in the week ended February 28 lifted oil prices earlier in the session.

West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended down $0.40, or about 0.9%, at $46.78 a barrel.

On Tuesday, WTI crude oil futures for April ended up $0.43, or 0.9%, at $47.18 a barrel.

The OPEC+ meeting is scheduled to take place in Vienna from March 5-6. It is expected that that existing cuts of 2.1 million bpd by the group may be extended until the end of 2020.

Media reports suggest that Russia and Saudi Arabia, the two biggest producers in the OPEC+ group, are close to the deal to support prices.

According to the data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) this morning, U.S. crude supplies rose by 785,000 barrels for the week ended Feb. 28.

The report also showed gasoline supplies declined by 4.3 million barrels in the week and distillates stockpiles dropped by 4 million barrels.

A report released by the American Petroleum Institute Tuesday evening showed U.S. crude oil inventories rose by 1.7 million barrels in the week to Feb. 28 to 446.6 million barrels, compared with analysts' expectations for a build of 2.6 million barrels.