UPDATE 8-Oil prices post weekly gain ahead of OPEC+ meeting

* Brent rises 7.2% in week; WTI gains 8%
* OPEC+ leaning towards oil cut extension, despite rally
-sources
* Questions over AstraZeneca vaccine, scientists sound
caution

(Adds informal OPEC+ talks on Sunday in paragraph 9)
By Stephanie Kelly
NEW YORK, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Oil prices were mixed on Friday
but posted a fourth straight week of gains ahead of an OPEC+
meeting early next week.
Brent crude January futures LCOc1 rose 38 cents to settle
at $48.18 a barrel, while the more active February contract
gained 46 cents to $48.25.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 futures fell
18 cents to settle at $45.53 a barrel.
Brent rose 7.2% over the week, while WTI gained 8% for the
week. Encouraging news on potential COVID-19 vaccines from
AstraZeneca AZN.L and others have lifted the markets. However,
questions have been raised over AstraZeneca's "vaccine for the
world," with several scientists sounding caution over the trial
results. "While a successful vaccine rollout should break the link
between infection and mobility, even then global oil demand will
likely only reach its pre-pandemic run rate by mid-2022," JP
Morgan said.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
and allies including Russia are leaning towards delaying next
year's planned increase in oil output, said three sources close
to the OPEC+ group. OPEC+ was planning to raise output by 2 million barrels per
day (bpd) in January - about 2% of global consumption - after
record supply cuts this year. OPEC+ ministers are due to meet
from Monday.
"The market expects prices to see a limited increase if
OPEC+ indeed does what is expected and changes its planned
route, postponing a planned supply increase from January," said
Bjornar Tonhaugen, Rystad Energy's head of oil markets
A panel of OPEC+ will hold informal online talks on Sunday -
a day later than scheduled, a source with the knowledge of the
matter told Reuters. Rising Libyan output is also contributing to concerns about
oversupply in the market.
The OPEC member, which is exempt from the oil cuts, has
added more than 1.1 million bpd of output since early September.
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CHART: U.S. oil may test resistance at $45.41 Brent oil may test resistance at $48.42 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>