WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Crude oil futures slipped Thursday morning despite a proclamation from OPEC's top official that oil demand will surge in the coming years.
Oil will top 100 million barrels a day in 2020, OPEC Secretary-General Mohammad Barkindo said.
He also said the global oil glut is quickly dwindling.
'A balanced oil market is now fully in sight,' Barkindo said.
'I have gauged the industry's temperature. There is no doubt that we are starting to feel a warmer glow. There is now more talk of a brighter outlook. It is a feeling that has been missing from the industry for far too long. This positivity is underscored by recent data,' he went on.
Still, WTI light sweet crude oil was down 66 cents at $51.38 a barrel, unable to sustain yesterday's gains.
Crude inventories fell 5.7 million barrels in the week to Oct. 13, EIA data showed, a slightly larger decline than expected.
U.S. crude production dropped to 8.4 million barrels per day, down over a 1 million bpd from a week earlier, largely due to another tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico.
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