Crude prices traded in the red on Thursday as investors continued to digest a rise in the United States drilling activity reported on Wednesday by Baker Hughes. However, the losses were somewhat offset by Canadian pipeline cuts and hopes of the output cut deal extension. Meanwhile, the signs of market tightening due to the implementation of oil production cap also continued to drive investor confidence higher.
OPEC and other major oil exporters are set to meet on November 30 in Vienna to discuss the compliance with the production pact and its possible extension. It is widely expected that the oil producers will prolong the output cut agreement beyond March 2018 in which they agreed to cap the global production of oil by as much as 1.8 million barrels per day.
West Texas Intermediate for January delivery declined 0.33%, changing hands for $57.81 per barrel at 11:20 am CET while the international benchmark Brent for settlements in the same month lost 0.62% to trade for $62.93 per barrel at 11:21 am CET.
