Crude oil futures jump as producers signal willingness to negotiate

Remarks by top officials from several major oil producing countries in favour of an agreement to freeze production in order to help prop up prices stoked gains in crude futures.

Speaking from the sidelines of the Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Lima, on Sunday, Russian president Vladimir Putin appeared to voice his support for such a deal.

"We will do everything that our partners from OPEC are expecting. To freeze crude production is not an issue for us," Putin said.

A deal was likely next week, Putin said.

“Whether an agreement will be reached, I can not say for one hundred percent, but there is a strong likelihood that it will be achieved," he added.

He was joined by Iran´s Oil minister, Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, who said on Saturday that it was "highly probable" that the oil cartel would reach a consensus on production cuts at its 30 November meeting, in Vienna.

Zanganeh´s comments followed a meeting with OPEC Secretary General Mohammed Barkindo during which they reportedly talked about a deal to cut output by as much as 1.3m barrels a day.

“I think OPEC members honor the agreement and would try to put it into action,” Shana reported Zanganeh as having said.

In parallel, Iraq´s Oil minister Jabbar Al-Luaibi said the country would table new proposals to help reach a deal.

However, Al-Luaibi added that his country´s "legitimate demands" should not be considered an obstacle to reaching a deal to freeze production.

Acting as a backdrop, the latest figures from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission revealed that, during the week ending on 15 November, the number of bets by producers and hedgers on a rise in the oil price hit their highest level since 2007.

As of 0916 GMT, front month Brent crude futures were up by 1.37% to $47.50 per barrel on the ICE.