Oil prices rise ahead of OPEC monthly report

Oil prices rose on Thursday ahead of the monthly oil report from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), despite a sharp rise in US crude inventories.

International benchmark Brent crude was trading up 0.6% at $68.32 per barrel, at 9 am Makkah time.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 0.7% to $64.87 per barrel.

Crude production rose to 10.9 million barrels per day, rebounding nearly to levels before the cold weather in Texas. This could be a little bit of a headwind for prices because the production number is coming up faster than people thought, Reuters reported, citing a senior analyst at Price Futures Group.