Oil prices were little changed on Thursday as uncertainty ahead of a planned OPEC-led crude production cut and thin liquidity during the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday kept traders from making big new bets.
At 1040 GMT (5:40 a.m. ET), Brent crude futures LCOc1 were trading at $48.89, down 6 cents from their close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 was down 2 cents at $47.94 per barrel.
Traders said market activity was low due to the U.S. holiday, and there was a reluctance to take on big price bets due to uncertainty about a planned oil production cut, led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
OPEC is due to meet on Nov. 30 to coordinate a cut, potentially together with non-OPEC member Russia.
Russia could revise down its 2017 oil production plans if a global output freeze pact comes into force, effectively cutting output by 200,000-300,000 barrels per day, Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Thursday.
OPEC will probably propose other producers cut their oil production by 880,000 barrels per day for six months starting from Jan. 1 2017, Azerbaijan Energy Minister Natig Aliyev wrote in a local newspaper on Thursday.
But an OPEC source told Reuters that OPEC was yet to make a final proposal to non-OPEC countries on joint production cuts, which will be discussed on Nov. 28 in Vienna.