A crude oil tanker at Qingdao Port, Shandong province, China. The nation is the world's biggest oil consumer. Picture: REUTERS/JASON LEE/FILE PHOTO
US crude inventories fell by about 3.1-million barrels in the week to December 16, according to market sources citing data from the American Petroleum Institute, while nine analysts polled by Reuters had estimated a 1.7-million barrel drop in stocks. Meanwhile, Saudi energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said in an interview with the Saudi state news agency that OPEC+ members leave politics out of the decision-making process and out of their assessments and forecasting.