Oil prices were trading slightly higher on Asian trade on Wednesday, with Brent crude oil futures increased by 6 cents to $90.98 a barrel at 0004 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude went up by 11 cents reaching $89.34 per barrel.
OPEC+ — the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies — is anticipated to keep their output policy unchanged during their Wednesday's meeting. This follows after OPEC members Saudi Arabia and Russia extended their output cuts until the end of the year.
Russia does not plan to put any end date on the fuel export ban it implemented in the previous month. Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak was quoted by Interfax as saying the ban would remain until it stabilizes prices and addresses domestic market shortages.
In U.S. supply news, data from the industry shows that crude stockpiles declined by about 4.2 million barrels for the week ending on September 29, as revealed by market sources referencing the figures from the American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday.
U.S. governmental data on stockpiles is set to be released on Wednesday. Eight analysts surveyed by Reuters anticipated an average decrease in crude inventories of about 500,000 barrels for the week ending September 29.
In recent days, the strong U.S. dollar — which hit a 10-month high against a group of major currencies on Tuesday after U.S. job openings data suggested a still-tightened labor market that could lead the Federal Reserve to increase interest rates next month — has been pressuring prices.
Higher interest rates, along with a stronger dollar, make oil costlier for holders of other currencies, which could potentially dampen oil demand.
Investors are also monitoring political discord in Washington as the Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives unprecedentedly ousted their leader on Tuesday. This escalating party conflict threw Congress into added disarray, only days after narrowly avoiding a government shutdown.