Oil rises more than 1 percent before OPEC meeting

NEW YORK: Oil prices rose more than 1 percent on Wednesday ahead of a meeting of the world's biggest exporters who will discuss cutting output to help shore up prices and curb excess supply.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and other producers will meet in Vienna this week to discuss a potential cut in production. Saudi Arabia has indicated it wants OPEC and its allies to cut output by at least 1.3 million barrels per day.

Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak told reporters he had held a "good" meeting with his Saudi counterpart Khalid al-Falih on Wednesday and that they would have more talks.

OPEC is keen to avert the kind of build-up in global oil inventories that sent prices tumbling for more than a year and a half from late 2014. At the start of 2016, benchmark Brent was trading below $30 a barrel.

Brent crude futures rose 89 cents to $62.97 a barrel, a 1.4 percent gain, by 11:13 a.m. EST (1613 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 82 cents to $54.07 a barrel, a 1.5 percent gain.

"The market is expecting that OPEC is going to announce production cuts," said Regina Mayor, global and U.S. sector leader for energy at KPMG. "There has been quite a lack of discipline of late. When you look at U.S. shale production and Saudi production and Russia production, everyone has the pedal to the metal."

U.S. President Donald Trump pressured OPEC not to reduce output.

"Hopefully OPEC will be keeping oil flows as is, not restricted. The World does not want to see, or need, higher oil prices!" Trump wrote on Twitter on Wednesday.

Saudi Arabian crude supply in November rose to 11.3 million barrels per day, a source familiar with the matter said. . That marks a rise from October's 10.65 million bpd.

U.S. crude inventories rose by 5.4 million barrels in the week to Nov. 30 to 448 million, data from industry group the American Petroleum Institute showed on Tuesday.

Official U.S. government inventory data is due on Thursday, delayed by one day. A Reuters survey forecast a decline of 900,000 barrels.