2020.11.0319:01:00UTC+00Crude Oil Futures Settle Notably Higher

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Tuesday thanks to a weaker dollar and hopes that OPEC and allies will likely postpone a plan to ease output cuts in January.

West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December settled higher by $0.85 or about 2.3% at $37.66 a barrel.

Brent crude futures were rising about $0.85 or 2.2% at $39.81 a barrel.

The dollar's weakness was due largely to expectations that Democratic Party candidate Joe Biden might push for bigger U.S. stimulus and take a freer approach to trade, if he manages to win the presidential election.

OPEC+ is scheduled to meet on November 30 and December 1 to discuss production plans, and many are of the view that the group will likely decide to delay plans to ramp up output.

The dollar's weakness, ahead of the Federal Reserve's two-day monetary policy meeting that begins tomorrow, supported oil's uptick.

The dollar index fell to 93.29 around late morning, and despite recovering to 93.59, was still notably down, losing nearly 0.6%, from previous close.

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

The API's report is due later today, while EIA will release its inventory data Wednesday morning.