Oil prices fall 1% ahead of OPEC+ meeting

Oil prices declined on Thursday after US benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude rose nearly 5% in the previous session supported by a fall in inventories and the impact of Hurricane Sally on US offshore oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico.

Latest data from Energy Information Administration showed a decline in US crude oil stockpiles, but distillate inventories were up.

Crude inventories fell to 496 million barrels in the week to Sept. 11, down 4.4 million barrels from the previous week.

Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 3.5 million barrels last week to 179.3 million barrels, the EIA data showed.

The markets are also awaiting a meeting of OPEC members and its allies, together known as OPEC+, to be held later today, Sept. 17, to review the market.

In terms of trading, Brent crude was down 1% at $41.81 a barrel, at 8.50 am Makkah time.

US West Texas Intermediate crude, meanwhile, fell 1.1% to $39.71 a barrel.

Both benchmarks had gained more than 4% on Wednesday.