London — Oil prices steadied on Thursday ahead of an Opec meeting expected to extend production cuts into 2018 in an attempt to drain a global glut that has depressed markets for almost three years. Brent crude oil dropped $1.16 a barrel to a low of $52.80 before regaining lost ground to trade at $53.96, unchanged on the day, by 9am GMT. US light crude was 10c lower at $51.26. Both benchmarks are up more than 15% from May lows. Oil cartel Opec and other producers, including Russia, meet in Vienna on Thursday and are widely expected to agree to extend a cut in oil supplies by 1.8-million barrels a day. Opec’s current deal, agreed at the end of 2016, covers only the first half of 2017. Saudi Arabia’s energy minister, Khalid al-Falih, said Opec was highly likely to roll over its existing agreement on the same terms for nine months. Another Opec delegate said a 12-month extension of the output cut was still an option. Analysts said many in the market had been hoping for deeper productio...
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