Oil prices rise; OPEC may cut again

Oil prices rose Nov. 27 after Saudi Arabia’s oil minister said OPEC might decide to cut output again when it meets in December. There were few other geopolitical or weather factors driving prices, which stayed within the range of the last eight weeks.

Light sweet crude for January delivery rose 50 cents to $59.74 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Brent crude was up 27 cents to $60.30 per barrel on the ICE Futures Exchange in London. Trading was light the week of Nov. 20, with floor trading closed for two days due to the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday.

Oil prices have fallen by about 23 percent since hitting an all-time trading high above $78 a barrel in mid-July. They haven’t settled above $62 a barrel since Oct. 1, despite the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ announcement in mid-October that it would reduce output by 1.2 million barrels a day.

Skepticism that OPEC members are committing to production cuts, as well as milder-than-normal U.S. temperatures this fall, have moderated prices.

London-based newspaper Al-Hayat said Saudi oil minister Ali al-Naimi had indicated the organization would evaluate the effect of October’s decision when it meets in Abuja in December, and if necessary authorize another cut.

—The Associated Press