Oil up

Singapore

Oil prices rose ahead of an OPEC meeting on Thursday that is expected to extend output cuts into 2018, adding at least nine months to an initial six-month curb in the first half of this year.

Brent crude futures were trading at $54.41 per barrel at 0539 GMT, up 45 cents, or 0.8 percent from their last close.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 40 cents, or 0.8 percent, at $51.76.Both benchmarks have climbed over 16 percent from their May lows.

Prices have risen on a consensus that a pledge by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other producers, including Russia, to cut supplies by 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) would be extended into 2018, instead of covering only the first half of 2017.

Speculation was rife that the cuts may be extended by nine and possibly 12 months, said Jeffrey Halley, analyst at futures brokerage OANDA in Singapore.