NEW YORK, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) -- Oil prices rose on Tuesday, amid broad expectations that this week's OPEC meeting will yield a deal on production cut.
However, Saudi oil minister's cautious remarks on Tuesday put a damper on that hope. Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih said the terms of a deal on global output cut remained undetermined in an interview with Bloomberg, as OPEC still needs to "figure out what needs to be done and by how much."
Though admitting an oversupplied market, Al-Falih stressed all the members of the OPEC and its allies, including Russia, needed to work together for a potential supply reduction.
Besides, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani defended its oil shipments through the Gulf, in reference to Washington's November sanctions against Iran's oil exports, which was aimed to check Iran's nuclear and missile programs.
"America should know that we are selling our oil and will continue to sell our oil and they are not able to stop our oil exports," Rouhani said in a televised speech on Tuesday.
The West Texas Intermediate for January delivery was up 0.3 U.S. dollar to settle at 53.25 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for January delivery rose 0.39 dollar to close at 62.08 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange. Enditem
