Crude oil prices moved higher on Monday with traders speculating on a reduction in output towards the end of this year.
Last week, Saudi Arabia had expressed the need for oil producers to cut output by 1 million barrels a day to reduce oil supply in 2019 due to a likely drop in demand for crude oil.
Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said this morning that Russia was planning to sign a partnership agreement with the group and the deal would be discussed at OPEC's meeting in Vienna on December 6.
Meanwhile, reports suggest that the European Union is backing French government's decision to sanction Iran nationals linked to a bomb plot in France. Traders also seem to be expecting U.S. to take a tougher stance on Iran.
Crude oil futures contracts for December expired at $56.76 a barrel, settling $0.30, or 0.5%, higher. On Friday, crude oil futures for December ended at $56.46 a barrel, unchanged from previous close.
Crude oil futures for January, the most active contract, ended up $0.52, or 0.9%, at $57.20 a barrel.
On the trade war front, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that China wants to make a deal on trade with the United States, but any pact has to be reciprocal. This has raised hopes that the two countries may agree on a deal when Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping meet in Argentina later this month.
Still, there is some uncertainty about any such deal coming through, as U.S. Vice President Mike Spence has said that the U.S. is unlikely to back down from its trade dispute, until China changes its ways.
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