Oil futures rise on hopes of production cuts

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices strengthened ahead of their settlement on Wednesday, buoyed by hopes that OPEC and its allies will strike a production cut agreement, shrugging off bearish signals from surging U.S. crude inventories. Brent crude was up $1, or 3%, at $32.87 by 2:23 p.m. EDT (1823 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose $1.55 cents to $25.18 a barrel.Crude has collapsed in 2020 because of a slide in demand due to the coronavirus pandemic and excess supply. Brent..