Oil Rises As Informal OPEC Meeting Underway

The price of a barrel of crude oil inched higher early Monday morning by 0.94 percent, as OPEC members are meeting on the sidelines at the International Energy Forum to discuss a potential agreement that would limit oil output.

Initial commentary from participants in the meeting and several analysts are painting a mixed picture. On one hand, CNBC quoted Algeria's energy minister Noureddine Bouterfa as saying "we will not come out of the meeting empty-handed." On the other hand, Saudi Arabia does not expect a deal to be reached during the talks and if a deal were to be made in the first place it would be contingent on Iran capping its own output this year.

CNBC cited a Reuters report which noted Iran has not responded to Saudi Arabia's conditions.

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Nevertheless, Jonathan Barratt, chief investment office at Ayers Alliance, told CNBC that the mere fact that Algeria is talking about a deal "means it's still on the table regardless of others' views." He added it is "imperative" for countries like Algeria and Venezuela to "keep pushing for a deal" to keep the price of oil higher.

Meanwhile, several other countries such as Libya and Nigeria are set to resume production following unplanned outages which further complicates talks.

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