Crude oil rose 1.7 per cent to Rs 2,934 per barrel at the futures market today as speculators widened their bets, taking positive cues from the Asian markets.

At the Multi Commodity Exchange, crude oil for delivery in September was trading higher by Rs 49 or 1.70 per cent at Rs 2,934 per barrel in a business turnover of 2,932 lots.

Likewise, the oil for delivery in October gained Rs 45 or 1.53 per cent to Rs 2,988 per barrel in 994 lots.

Output deal

Analysts said speculative positions were built up by traders after crude oil prices edged up in Asia today as OPEC member Venezuela indicated that a deal to limit output was close.

Fighting in Libya thwarted kick-starting of exports, but the gains were limited by ongoing worries about a supply glut which influenced crude prices here.

Key crude states are due to meet in Algeria next week to discuss the global supply crisis and overproduction that has hammered prices for two years.

On Sunday, Venezuela President Nicholas Maduro had said participants in the talks — the OPEC cartel and Russia — are now working on a deal and that he had discussed the issue with his Iranian and Ecuadoran counterparts.

Meanwhile, West Texas Intermediate was up 79 cents at $43.82 while global benchmark Brent fell 4.5 per cent.

Supply glut

Crude has been dogged by a stubborn supply glut since late 2014, with prices hitting near 13-year lows at the start of this year.

A previous attempt at a deal in April fell apart when Iran, which had just emerged from years of Western nuclear-linked sanctions, refused to take part.

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