Crude rose 1 percent as the OPEC alliance confirmed it would continue to cut supplies

International crude oil futures rose about 1% on Tuesday (Nov.
22) after Saudi Arabia, the largest crude oil exporter, said that the OPEC alliance would continue to cut production and could take further steps to balance the market
.

By the close, the most actively traded West Texas Intermediate (WTI) January contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) closed at $80.
95 a barrel, up $0.
91 or 1.
1%
from the previous session.

Brent crude futures, the global benchmark, for January, closed at $88.
36 a barrel, up $0.
91, or 1 percent
.

On Monday (November 21), the Wall Street Journal said that the OPEC alliance was considering raising its crude oil production target by as much as 500,000 barrels per day, causing crude oil to plunge by $5 per barrel at one point, hitting a 10-month low
.
But then Saudi state news agency SPA quoted Saudi Energy Minister Abdulaziz bin Salman as denying
the Wall Street Journal report.
Other major producers of OPEC also said the Wall Street Journal's claims were false
.
The UAE denied that changes to the production agreement were being discussed, Kuwait said no such discussions had taken place, and Algeria said it had not made such "impossable" changes
to the production agreement.
The OPEC alliance will hold an output policy meeting
on December 4.

The European Union plans to impose an embargo on Russian seaborne crude on December 5, but media reports on Tuesday said the EU softened its sanctions stance, delayed the full implementation of a price cap on Russian crude and eased key shipping terms
.
The EU's proposal to add a 45-day transition period when imposing price caps could help ease concerns
about tight supply.

At the same time, the Federal Reserve will continue to raise interest rates, while the severe epidemic situation in China has raised concerns about the outlook for energy demand, limiting the increase
in oil prices.
Analysts are cutting forecasts
for Chinese crude demand.

On Tuesday (November 22), the American Petroleum Institute will release an inventory report after hours, and analysts expect US crude oil inventories to fall by 2.
2 million barrels
last week.

WTI crude is down 6.
45% so far this month, up 7.
63% year-to-date, and closed Tuesday up 3.
12%
year-on-year.
Brent crude is down 6.
82% so far this month, up 13.
60% year-to-date, and closed on Tuesday up 7.
35%
year-on-year.

In contrast, WTI crude rose 55.
5% in 2021, the biggest annual gain since 2009
.
Brent crude rose 50.
5 percent, its biggest gain since 2016, largely due to strong demand and limited
supply growth.