WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Crude oil futures fell Thursday despite a prediction from OPEC's top man 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,' added Barkindo.
OPEC favors a nine-month extension to the OPEC/Russia supply quota deal, Reuters reports. The news comes after Iran's oil minister said the deal should go beyond this year.
WTI light sweet crude oil was down 75 cents, or 1.4%, to settle at $51.29/bbl, easing from multi-week highs.
For the first time in the last twelve months, the Conference Board released a report on Thursday showing an unexpected drop by its index of leading U.S. economic indicators in the month of September.
The Conference Board said its leading economic index dipped by 0.2 percent in September after climbing by 0.4 percent in August. Economists had expected the index to inch up by 0.1 percent.
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