Investing.com - Oil prices were lower during European hours on Tuesday, but remained supported near a one-year high amid growing expectations of an output cut by major global oil producers.
Brent oil for December delivery on the ICE Futures Exchange in London shed 24 cents, or 0.45%, to $52.90 a barrel by 4:15AM ET (08:15GMT). A day earlier, London-traded Brent prices soared to $53.73, a level not seen since October 9, 2015.
Elsewhere, crude oil for November delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange dipped 19 cents, or 0.37%, to $51.17 a barrel after climbing to $51.60 on Monday, the most since June 9.
Oil's gains on Monday came after Russian President Vladimir Putin said his country is prepared to join an oil-output deal which may include a freeze or cut to output.
Speaking at the World Energy Congress in Istanbul, Putin said he hoped OPEC would agree on limits to its crude production in November and that Russia was ready to support that decision. Russia will continue to be a reliable energy supplier, he said.
Putin's bullish comments came after Saudi Arabia's Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said he was optimistic a production deal could be reached by November and that it wasn’t “unthinkable” that crude prices could rise another 20% this year to $60 a barrel.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries reached an agreement to limit production to a range of 32.5 million to 33.0 million barrels per day in talks held on the sidelines of an energy conference in Algeria late last month, a reduction of 0.7%-to-2.2% from its current output of 33.2 million barrels.
However, market analysts remained skeptical of the deal, pondering how such a plan would be implemented.
The 14-member oil group said it won’t finalize details or complete its production agreement until the group’s next official meeting in Vienna on November 30.
Global oil supply could fall into line more quickly with demand if OPEC and Russia agree to a steep enough cut in production, but it is unclear how rapidly this might happen until more details emerge, the International Energy Agency said on Tuesday.
The IEA said in its Octoberreport it expected world oil demand to grow at a rate of 1.2 million bpd next year, keeping its forecast unchanged from last month, but cut its estimate of growth in 2016 by 40,000 bpd to around 1.2 million bpd, from around 1.3 million bpd last month.
The IEA forecast a decline of 900,000 bpd in non-OPEC output in 2016 to 56.6 million bpd, and expects a rise of 400,000 bpd in 2017.
Global stockpiles fell for the first time since March, down 10 million barrels to 3.092 billion barrels, just shy of July's record 3.111 billion barrels.