Oil rises by more than 1% ahead of OPEC+ meet

Oil prices rose by more than 1% on Monday ahead of a meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the allied producers to discuss output levels for February.

International benchmark Brent crude was trading up 1.5% at $52.58 per barrel, at 8.52 am Makkah time.

WTI crude rose 1.3% to $49.17 a barrel.

OPEC+ decided at a meeting last month to raise output by 500,000 barrels per day in January, and agreed to meet every month to review production.

Mohammad Barkindo, Secretary General of OPEC, said on Sunday, Jan. 3, that the outlook for the first half of 2021 is very mixed, Bloomberg reported.