London: Oil prices steadied on Wednesday as dealers squared positions after the previous day's bumper gains which were stoked by indications the OPEC cartel will cut its production target next year.
The market also awaited the latest energy stockpiles report and an interest rate decision in the United States, traders said.
In early afternoon deals, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in November firmed seven cents to USD 99.12 a barrel from Tuesday's closing level.
US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for October dipped 46 cents to USD 94.42 a barrel.
"We are seeing some consolidation in the oil market in Asian hours after news of the OPEC production cut led to gains overnight," Ric Spooner, chief market analyst at CMC Markets in Sydney, told AFP.
Crude futures had rebounded sharply yesterday after the head of OPEC indicated that the crude producers' cartel could cut its production target for 2015.
WTI jumped USD 1.96 yesterday while Brent gained USD 1.17.
In comments widely reported yesterday, Abdullah El-Badri, secretary-general of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), said he expected the cartel to trim output in 2015 by about 500,000 barrels per day to 29.5 million.
The cartel is due to hold its next production meeting in Vienna on November 27.
In June, OPEC agreed to keep production at 30 million barrels a day, saying that while demand was picking up, downside risks to the global economy "remain unchecked".
Since the June meeting, oil prices have been in fairly steady retreat, with Brent falling to a two-year low Monday owing partly to concerns about demand in China.
McCarthy said dealers are standing on the sidelines ahead of the release of the latest official US stockpiles data later today.
Analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires expect crude reserves to have dropped by 1.2 million barrels on average in the week to September 12.
A key monetary policy statement due to be released by the US Federal Reserve at 1800 GMT (2330 IST) today will also be in focus, McCarthy said.
