By Commodity News Service Canada

WINNIPEG, March 9 – The following is a glance at the news moving markets globally.

CRUDE OIL FUTURES RISE ON ANTICIPATED OUTPUT MEETING
Crude oil futures were propped up on Wednesday in anticipation of a producer meeting later this month.

Representatives from OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) and non-OPEC countries are set to meet in Moscow on March 20 to discuss an output freeze, a Saudi official told media in the country.

However Russian officials said no date or place had been chosen for a possible meeting.

ALBERTA’S ECONOMY EXPECTED TO SHRINK, OTHER PROVINCES GAIN
The slump in oil prices will continue to weigh on Alberta’s economy in 2016, with a projected real gross domestic product contraction of 1.1 per cent, according to a report from the Conference Board of Canada, released on Tuesday.

All other provinces are expected to see growth, with British Columbia leading the way—with an anticipated real gross domestic product growth of 2.7 per cent.

Only Ontario, Manitoba, and Nova Scotia can expect to see their economy grow by more than two per cent this year, the Conference Board of Canada said in a report.

CANADA INCREASES CRUDE OIL PRODUCTION IN DECEMBER
Canada produced 20.2 million cubic metres of crude oil and equivalent products in December, up 3.5 per cent compared with the same month in 2014, Statistics Canada said in a report on Wednesday.

According to StatsCan, the increase in the production of crude oil and equivalent products was led by crude bitumen, up 18.2 per cent to 7.6 million cubic metres and, to a lesser extent, by synthetic crude oil, which rose 2.5 per cent to five million cubic metres.