Investing.com – Crude oil prices turned lower on Thursday, as investors locked in profits from the commodity’s recent climb sparked by upbeat U.S. inventory data and a sustained feeling that the market is rebalancing.
The U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude November contract was down76 cents or about 1.46% at $51.27 a barrel by 09:45 a.m. ET (13:45 GMT).
Elsewhere, for December delivery on the ICE Futures Exchange in London was down 87 cents or about 1.51% at $57.26 a barrel.
Crude prices rallied after the EIA reported this week that inventories fell by , marking the fourth straight weekly decline. However, gasoline stockpiles were up for the week, while distillate stockpiles rose by .
The report also showed that domestic crude production slumped by 11% from the previous week to 8.4 million, as production had to be shut because of Hurricane Nate, which hit the U.S. Gulf coast earlier in October.
Prices received another boost amid expectations that major global producers will extend a deal to curb production beyond its current expiry date next March.
The original deal, struck nearly a year ago between OPEC and 10 other non-OPEC countries led by Russia, was to cut production by 1.8 million barrels a day for six months. The agreement was extended in May of this year for a period of nine months until March 2018 in a bid to reduce global oil inventories and support oil prices.
Meanwhile, oil traders continued to monitor geopolitical developments in Iraq’s Kurdistan region, where Iraqi forces this week captured the Kurdish-held oil city of Kirkuk.
The fighting follows a referendum in which the Kurds, who run their own semiautonomous region in northern Iraq, voted overwhelmingly in favor of independence last month, defying Baghdad, regional powers and the U.S., triggering fears of supply disruptions.
Adding to these tensions, U.S. President Donald Trump last week refused to certify Iran’s compliance over a nuclear deal, leaving Congress 60 days to decide further action against Tehran.
Elsewhere, were down 0.97% at $1.635 a gallon, while were little changed at $2.856 per million British thermal units.
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Source: Investing.com
