Oil hits 6-month high, speculation on OPEC-Russia deal

Apr 28, 2016 (LBO) - Oil prices hit six month highs before dipping slightly on mixed reports about inventories. Brent Crude hit a high of 47.05 dollars, but is currently down 0.55 percent at 46.92 dollars per barrel. Oil has risen in recent weeks from market optimism that OPEC and Russia will freeze production at current levels, while U.S. production levels off, although the oil meeting ended in a stalemate. "With crude inventories building and the Saudis still pumping at record levels, we feel the recent run-up has been mainly fueled by the weakness on the dollar," said Tariq Zahir, trader and portfolio manager at Tyche Capital Advisors in New York. The American Petroleum Institute said late Tuesday that U.S. oil inventories fell by 1.1 million barrels last week, giving the commodity a jolt in early trading Wednesday, according to USA Today. But the U.S. Energy Information Administration said U.S. commercial crude oil inventories rose 2 million barrels last week, confusing markets. Oil giant ExxonMobil on Tuesday lost its AAA credit rating from Standard & Poor's in a reflection of the market's sharp downturn.