 "crude oil prices")
By Laila Kearney
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil fell about 1% on Monday on uncertainty about whether OPEC+ would agree to extend its deep output cuts at talks this week, but COVID-19 vaccine hopes kept crude benchmarks on track to rise by more than 25% in November.
Brent crude for January delivery, which expires on Monday, dropped 47 cents, or 1%, to $47.71 a barrel by 11:15 a.m. EST (1615 GMT). The more actively traded February Brent contract was down 48 cents at $47.77.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for January fell 35 cents, or 0.8%, to $45.18 a barrel.
Oil prices have climbed this month, on track for their biggest monthly gains since May, as vaccine developments raise hopes for an economic recovery that could boost fuel demand.
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The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and others, known as OPEC+, plan to hold wider talks on Tuesday after discussions of key ministers on Sunday failed to reach a consensus.
"When OPEC punted until tomorrow to make a final decision, the market got nervous and started to sell off," said Phil Flynn, senior analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago.
OPEC+ is due to ease existing production cuts by 2 million barrels per day (bpd) from January, but an uneven recovery in global demand has prompted a rethink.
Algerian Energy Minister Abdelmadjid Atta said members have agreed on the need for a three-month extension and will work on convincing their allies in OPEC+ to support the move.
Demand has recovered in Asia but not Europe and the Americas, presenting OPEC+ with a "challenging choice on whether to delay or bring back more oil," said FXTM analyst Hussein Sayed.
Goldman Sachs said a winter surge in COVID-19 cases would not prevent the oil market rebalancing as a result of vaccine progress. It saw Brent rising to $65 in 2021.
A Reuters poll of 40 economists and analysts forecast Brent would average $49.35 a barrel next year.
(Additional reporting by Bozorgmehr Sharafedin in London, Florence Tan and Koustav Samanta in Singapore; Editing by Marguerita Choy and Edmund Blair)
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
