Oil settles at 2-month high, buoyed by talk of potential extension to OPEC output

Oil prices registered their highest settlement in about two months on Thursday, finding support from a report that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies are likely to extend production cuts as well as renewed optimism around trade talks.

OPEC and its allies, including Russia, are likely to agree to extend crude production cuts until mid-2020 when they meet next month, Reuters reported Thursday, citing OPEC sources. An existing agreement on output curbs runs through March 2020. OPEC and its allies will meet on Dec. 5 and Dec. 6 in Vienna.

West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery rose $1.57, or 2.8%, to settle at $58.58 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while January Brent crude , the global benchmark, added up $1.57, or 2.5%, at $63.97 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.

Both front-month benchmark crude contracts posted a second straight climb and marked their highest settlements since Sept. 23, according to Dow Jones Market Data.