OPEC

Oil prices rallied for a fourth day running on Thursday, edging above $71.50 a barrel after bullish inventory data and soothing words from OPEC whetted investor appetite for crude.

OPEC was set to keep output targets steady at a meeting late on Wednesday after top exporter Saudi Arabia looked to economic strength to bolster the oil price and dismissed bulging inventories.

Global oil demand through next year will be weaker than previously forecast while petroleum supplies will be higher, the U.S. government said in a revised outlook on Wednesday.

Oil prices rose on Wednesday, as optimism surrounding economic recovery and a weaker U.S. dollar prompted investors to buy crude to hedge against inflation.

Oil prices rose above $72 a barrel on Wednesday for the first time this month as a falling dollar spurred investors to hedge against inflation by buying commodities.

Oil prices rose above $72 a barrel on Wednesday for the first time this month as a falling dollar spurred investors to buy commodities as a hedge against inflation.

Oil prices rose toward $72 a barrel on Wednesday, extending gains of more than $3 the previous day as a falling dollar spurred investors to buy commodities such as oil as a hedge against inflation.

Oil prices fell below $71 a barrel Wednesday, after rising more than $3 the previous day, as OPEC ministers were expected to maintain official output unchanged at their meeting in Vienna.

Oil prices hovered above $71 a barrel on Wednesday, after rising more than $3 the previous day, as OPEC ministers were expected at their meeting in Vienna to maintain official output unchanged.

Oil prices hovered above $71 a barrel on Wednesday, after rising more than $3 the previous day, as OPEC ministers were expected at their meeting in Vienna to maintain official output unchanged.

OPEC ministers were all but certain to leave output targets unchanged at a meeting late on Wednesday after the top exporter Saudi Arabia said there was no need for action.

Oil prices rallied above $71.50 a barrel on Wednesday, extending the previous session's dollar-driven 4.5 percent rally as investors waited for an OPEC meeting to conclude and fresh U.S. inventory data.

Oil prices held steady around $71 a barrel on Wednesday, consolidating the previous session's dollar-driven 4.5 percent rally as investors waited for an OPEC meeting to conclude and fresh U.S. inventory data.

Oil prices rose 4.5 percent on Tuesday, their biggest gain in nearly three weeks, as weakness in the U.S. dollar fired up inflation fears and triggered a rush of buying across commodities markets.

Oil prices on Tuesday posted their biggest gain in more than a month as weakness in the U.S. dollar fired up inflation fears and triggered a rush of buying across commodities markets.

Oil prices on Tuesday posted their biggest gain since the end of July as the dollar weakened and investors quenched a growing thirst for tangible commodities to hedge inflation.

Challenges of Slow Growth; Falling Tensions; Bottoming Airlines

Oil traded higher on Tuesday by nearly $3 at one point as investors quenched a growing risk appetite for tangible commodities against the background of a weakening dollar and the looming prospect of inflation.

Oil prices rose above $69 a barrel on Tuesday as spot gold crossed a psychological threshold and ahead of an OPEC meeting analysts said would see more target compliance rhetoric but no change in output limits.

Oil prices rose above $69 a barrel on Tuesday ahead of an OPEC meeting, which analysts said would see more target compliance rhetoric but no change in output limits.

Oil at close to $70 means OPEC will almost certainly keep existing output cuts in place when it meets in Vienna on Wednesday, although it could seek to tighten compliance with existing targets, ministers and delegates said.