REUTERS

Oil gained more ground on Wednesday as a U.S. coronavirus fiscal aid package and a decline in crude oil inventories lifted prices.

Brent crude futures rose 19 cents, or 0.4%, to $51.28 a barrel, by 0255 GMT and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 29 cents, or 0.6%, to $48.29, as reported by Reuters.

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A January 4 meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies including Russia, a group known as OPEC+, also looms over the market.

OPEC+ is tapering record oil output cuts made this year to support the market. The group is set to boost output by 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) in January, and Russia supports another increase of the same amount in February.

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