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NEW YORK, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- Oil prices ended higher on Thursday amid renewed expectations for a production-cut deal among OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) members.
Oil prices had been under pressure in the previous three sessions as Iraqi oil minister Jabar Ali al-Luaibi said on Sunday that the country, second largest producer in OPEC, wanted to be exempt from output curbs as it needed more money to fight Islamic State militants.
Crude prices were lifted on Thursday as energy ministers from Saudi Arabia and Gulf allies told their Russian counterpart this week they are willing to reduce their peak oil output by up to 4 percent, according to media reports.
OPEC agreed last month to cut oil production to 32.5 million barrels a day from current level of 33.24 million barrels a day to boost the market. The group will agree concrete levels of output by each country at its next formal meeting in November.
Oil prices were also supported as government data showed the U.S. crude stockpile unexpectedly declined last week.
The Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in its weekly report on Wednesday that U.S. crude inventories lost 600,000 barrels last week, in contrary to market consensus of a 1.7 million-barrel gain.
The West Texas Intermediate for December delivery added 0.54 U.S. dollars to settle at 49.72 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for December delivery increased 0.54 dollar to close at 50.47 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
