WTI ended at $45.53, down 0.4%, and Brent ended at $48.18, up 0.8%.

The two crude oil benchmark contracts ended close to balance on Friday, in a calm market that awaits the decisive peak of oil-producing countries on Monday and Tuesday.

At the end of a shortened session, the day after the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States, the US barrel of WTI for January fell 0.4% to 45.53 dollars.

In London, the barrel of North Sea Brent for the same maturity gained 0.8% compared to Thursday's close, at $48.18.

Brent and WTI also reached eight-and-a-half-month highs this week at $49.09 and $46.26 a barrel, respectively.

Since the beginning of November, they have posted gains of more than 25%.

Oil is "holding on, with investors clinging to hopes that next week's OPEC+ meeting will result in postponing by three months" the current cut level of their oil production, Eugen Weinberg explained. Analyst at Commerzbank.

Members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and their OPEC+ allies are meeting on Monday 30 November and Tuesday 1 December to decide on the agreement to reduce crude production that binds them.

According to him, the current withdrawal from the market of 7.7 million barrels per day must be reduced to 5.8 million as of January 2021.

If a six-month extension was circulating among observers and market participants in recent days, "the obligation to do more than three months has finally decreased," said Neil Wilson, of Markets.com.

"Three months already saves time with the option to extend them if necessary," he continued.

But "if the cartel does not change anything, it would be a disastrous shock to oil," warned Weinberg, who recalls the still fragile prospects on the demand side due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the various restrictions on the movement of goods and people around the world.