In the early morning of the 4th Beijing time, crude oil futures prices closed higher on Wednesday. Oil prices are supported by geopolitical tensions and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) policies to cut production and raise prices.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures for May delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 28 cents, or 0.33%, to close at $85.43 a barrel. Natural gas futures closed down 1.13% in May to close at $1.8410 per million British thermal units. Gasoline futures closed at $2.7609 per gallon for May. Heating oil futures for May closed at $2.7324 per gallon.
Brent crude oil futures for June delivery on the European Intercontinental Exchange rose 43 cents, or 0.48%, to close at $89.35 a barrel.
Currently, both WTI and Brent crude oil futures are at their highest level since late October.
To raise crude oil prices, some members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and OPEC allies led by Russia (known as OPEC+) agreed on Wednesday to voluntarily cut production by 2.2 million b/d for at least the second quarter.
The organization's Joint Ministerial Supervisory Committee concluded a meeting on Wednesday without recommending changes to OPEC+'s current production policy, according to two representatives. The committee can only make recommendations for OPEC+ to consider at a formal meeting.
The strength of the rise in oil prices on Wednesday was dampened by an increase in US crude oil inventories. Commercial inventories excluding strategic oil reserves increased by 3.2 million barrels last week, according to the US Energy Information Administration.