WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Crude oil futures pulled back Thursday after hitting multi-year highs, even as OPEC bragged that the global oil glut is all but gone.
Reuters reports that OPEC officials claim their supply quota plan with Russia has had the intended effect of re-balancing the global oil market.
Still, the cartel and Kremlin want to drive prices even higher and offset the U.S. shale oil boom, so they are likely to extend the supply quota plan beyond this year.
OPEC is meeting in the Middle East this week to discuss the issue.
WTI light sweet oil jumped to a nearly 4-year high around $70 a barrel this morning, but profit taking took hold.
May oil settled lower by 18 cents, or about 0.3%, at $68.29/bbl. Friday is final day of the May contract.
In economic news, U.S. initial jobless claims edged down to 232,000, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 233,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to dip to 230,000.
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