Qatar's energy minister, Mohammed al-Sada confirmed that key producers from within and outside the OPEC cartel will meet April 17 in Doha, stoking hopes of an agreement to ease a global supply glut.
The initiative is backed by 15 countries accounting for about 73 per cent of global oil output, said the minister, who also serves as president of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak, who supports the initiative, said Iran had indicated that it is "ready to participate" in the meeting, days after Tehran had warned it would not consider any limits until it had roughly doubled production to four million barrels a day.
WTI rose 5.8 per cent and Brent advanced 4.1 per cent to firmly close above USD 40 a barrel yesterday.
Also Read
Phillip Futures analyst Daniel Ang however doubted if the price rise will last as the market remains oversupplied and it was still unclear whether the producers will reach agreement.
"The fundamentals for oil are still weak unless OPEC or the other major oil producers do something next month," he told AFP.
Other analysts have noted that the meeting is only to talk about a freeze and not a cut in production.
Prices have rallied from near 13-year lows touched in February after Russia and Saudi Arabia mooted a meeting to freeze output.
News of the producers' meeting overshadowed a report showing a lower-than-expected build in US commercial crude inventories.
A weaker dollar after the Fed decided against an interest rate increase yesterday also provided support to prices as it makes the commodity cheaper for clients using other currencies.