Oil prices dropped on Friday ahead of a key meeting by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, collectively known as OPEC+, Trend reports citing Xinhua.
The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for January delivery lost 1.24 U.S. dollars, or 1.5 percent, to settle at 79.98 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for February delivery decreased 1.31 dollars, or 1.5 percent, to close at 85.57 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
OPEC+ will meet on Sunday. In October, the oil alliance agreed to reduce its output target by 2 million barrels per day from November to shore up prices.
Experts said the group is likely to leave its output unchanged at the upcoming meeting.