“The stock market has firmed up, which is giving the energy market some strength,” said Phil Flynn, of Alaron Trading. “It’s clear that an awful lot of bearish news has already been priced in.”

The Energy Information Administration’s weekly inventory report, delayed a day by the Veteran’s Day holiday, did little to move the market. Crude stocks were near-flat, rising by only 22,000 barrels, far below the forecast for a 1 million barrel gain.

But gasoline supplies rose by 2 million barrels, more than double the 850,000 barrel estimate.

The Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries, a subset of OPEC, is scheduled to meet in Cairo on November 29. However, non-Arab members of the cartel, such as Venezuela, Iran and Angola, will be invited to take part in talks about the oil market afterwards, OPEC President Chakib Khelil said.

And Brazil’s Petrobras has thrown open the newly-discovered fields off its coast to foreign Big Oil companies. Chevron and Shell expect to begin pumping in 2010, while Exxon, Mobil, Hess and Devon are engaged in exploration. It’s estimated that 50-70 billion barrels of oil could lie beneath Brazilian waters

Source: Crude Edges Higher, Brazil Welcomes Big Oil