WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Crude oil prices drifted lower and the most active crude futures contract dropped to a one-week closing low on Tuesday, weighed down by the decision of OPEC and its allies to delay a discussion on output cuts by a couple of days.
West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended down by $0.79 or about 1.7% at $45.55 a barrel.
Brent crude futures were down $0.48 or about 1% at $47.40 a little while ago.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies Russia and other major producers, who were originally set to take a call on extending output cuts beyond January, have now decided to postpone talks to Thursday.
'The 12th OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting has been postponed to Thursday, 3 December 2020, at 14:00 (CET) [13:00 GMT],' the OPEC said in a statement.
The oil market fundamentals remain weak and point to a significant oversupply during the early point of the coming year, due to continued increase in coronavirus cases in several regions. Resumption of production in Libya from September is also contributing to fears of oversupply in the market.
Traders were also looking ahead to weekly oil inventory reports from the American Petroleum Institute (API) and Energy Information Administration (EIA). The API report is due out later today, while the EIA will release its report Wednesday morning.
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