Oil prices advanced on Wednesday 

International benchmarks for oil prices edged higher on Wednesday (16 March) after the president of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries announced that a meeting between major oil producers is fixed on 17 April in Doha to discuss further on the output freeze agreement. The initiative is reportedly backed by 15 countries accounting for some 73% of global oil output. The market totally ignored US Department of Energy report which showed some 1.3 million barrels increased in commercial petroleum inventories to 523.2 million barrels in the week ending Mar 11, a record high. Analyst expect one of the first many steps for producers joining the meeting is to decide whether to cut output later on and how to accommodate Iran's return to the market.

WTI closed at   $38.46/b (+$2.12)
Brent closed at $40.33/b (+$1.59)

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