Algeria says any OPEC extraordinary meeting may be held before November

Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil for November delivery turned around, gaining 88 cents, or 1.92%, to $47.76 by 10:41AM ET (14:41GMT), compared to $46.58 before the release.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were down 22 cents at $43.08 a barrel. While Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said members are close to a deal, all but two of 23 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg said an agreement to limit production is unlikely.

Saudi Arabia’s crude oil exports in July rose to 7.622 million barrels per day from 7.456 million bpd in June, official data showed on Monday. “We’re close to a deal between OPEC producer countries and non-OPEC”. Prices dropped 7 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $45.88 on Tuesday.

“The credibility of bullish production freeze rhetoric from Venezuela is understandably being questioned in the run-up to next week’s Algiers meeting, while worries about additional supply (Nigeria, Libya) worsening the global glut add to the mix”, noted analysts at traders Accendo Markets.

“Even with a freeze – which would still mean OPEC production is at record levels – we will still be in an oversupplied market”, he said. USA crude was up 78 cents, or 1.8 percent, at $43.81 a barrel.

OPEC Secretary-General Mohammed Barkindo has damped expectations ahead of the September 28 meeting, saying the talks are for consultation rather than decision making.

The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said domestic crude inventories fell by 6.2 million barrels for the week ended Sept 16, versus a 3.4 million-barrel drop forecast by oil market analysts polled by Reuters.

In choppy trading conditions, there were net gains for crude prices during the United States session on Tuesday with prices breaking above the $44.0 p/b level.

Barkindo said he is “optimistic” about the informal session in Algiers to be held September 27 on the sidelines of a conference of the International Energy Forum, Algeria Press Service reported. OPEC may call an extraordinary meeting if ministers reach consensus at an informal gathering next week, Secretary General Mohammed Barkindo said, according to the Algerian Press Service. The planned discussions signal that OPEC is reconsidering a Saudi-led policy the group adopted in 2014 that allows members to boost output to defend market share from higher-cost producers.