WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Crude oil prices are lower Thursday morning, with traders taking some profits after a record uptick in the previous session.
Renewed worries about excess supply in the market and likely drop in energy demand in the near term due to global economic slowdown are also dragging down oil prices today.
After suffering a severe setback on Christmas Eve, when it lost over 6% and plunged to near 18-month low, West Texas Intermediate Crude rebounded strongly on the Boxing Day, gaining close to 9%.
Crude oil futures for February delivery are down $1.08, or 2.3%, at $45.53 a barrel.
On Wednesday, crude oil futures ended up 8.6% at $46.22 a barrel.
Crude oil prices had climbed higher in September amid prospects of a drop in supply due to the impending sanctions on Iranian oil. Subsequently, consistent increase in U.S. shale output and a sharp jump in crude production in Saudi Arabia sent oil prices crashing to multi-month lows.
Earlier this month, OPEC and some of its allies, including Russia, agreed to cut crude output by 1.2 million barrels from January 2019. Still, prices kept sliding lower amid rising worries about economic slowdown.
Traders are looking ahead to crude inventory data from U.S. Energy Information Administration, due tomorrow morning.
Before that, the American Petroleum Institute is scheduled to come out with its weekly oil report later in the day.
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