Oil up on lower U.S. crude stocks and dollar, OPEC+ and China concerns limit gains

Oil prices posted gains of more than 1% in Asian trade on Wednesday on falling U.S. crude inventories and a lower greenback, but concerns OPEC+ will leave output unchanged at its upcoming meeting and weak China data limited gains, Reuters reported.
Brent crude futures LCOc1 firmed 95 cents or 1.14% to $83.98 per barrel by 0411 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 futures climbed 80 cents or 1.02% to $79.00 per barrel.
Helping to boost prices, U.S. crude oil stocks were expected to have dropped by about 7.9 million barrels in the week ended Nov. 25, according to market sources citing American Petroleum Institute figures on Tuesday.
Gasoline inventories rose by about 2.9 million barrels, while distillate stocks were seen rising about 4.0 million barrels, according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Official figures are due by the U.S Energy Information Administration on Wednesday.
Slight support also came from a weaker U.S. dollar. Fed Chair Jerome Powell is scheduled to speak about the economy and labour market at a Brookings Institution event on Wednesday, when investors will be looking for clues about when the Fed will slow the pace of its aggressive interest rate hikes.
On the supply side, OPEC+ is likely to keep oil output policy unchanged at a meeting on Sunday, five OPEC+ sources said, although two sources said an additional production cut was also likely to be considered, to support prices.